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Carter-Mondale: The longevity ticket

TRIVIA QUIZ: How are former President Jimmy Carter and Minnesotan Walter Mondale on a pace to knock founding fathers John Adams and Thomas Jefferson out of the record book next month?

For two centuries, the team of Adams and Jefferson has held the record as the president and vice president who jointly lived the longest after their administration ended.

The Adams administration (in which Jefferson served miserably as vice president, having lost the 1796 election to Adams) ended on March 4, 1801, because Jefferson defeated Adams in an 1800 rematch.

Both men died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, which Jefferson had written with the help of Adams and Ben Franklin.

By living until that date, the team of Adams and Jefferson had survived 25 years and 122 days after their administration. No president-vice president duo has lasted anywhere near so long since.

Until now.

The Carter-Mondale administration ended on Jan. 20, 1981. As of today, both members of the team have lived for 25 years and 83 days since then. Barring unexpected developments, on May 23 they will break new ground by surviving 25 years and 123 post-administration days.

Read entire article at Eric Black in the Minneapolis Star Tribune