The last words and final moments of 40 presidents

American presidents have met their end in virtually every way known to human beings, some suddenly in hails of gunfire, some shortly after leaving office and some of old age years or even decades after their time as the country's leader. There is no official office that certifies the last words of presidents, and because much of what we know about the leaders of the early American Republic is secondhand or perhaps even altogether apocryphal, there is a considerable amount of guesswork involved in reconstructing the last moments of some of the most powerful men who have ever lived. And of course, not all of them were in any condition to offer last words. Some, like Ronald Reagan, were in the final throes of Alzheimer's, and others, like 100-year-old Jimmy Carter, were no longer able to communicate from their deathbeds.

Given the importance that even the least well-regarded presidents have had on U.S. and world history, there is value in interpreting their parting thoughts for future generations to ponder. For better or worse, these are the 40 men who have had the unique honor and responsibility of serving as president of the United States and who are no longer with us. Some had regrets, while others had none, and many expected another chapter on a different plane. As far as we can tell, none expected it to be hell, although perhaps several of them should have.

1. George Washington (President from 1789-1797)

"'Tis well."

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2. John Adams (President from 1797-1801)

"Thomas Jefferson survives." What Adams didn't know was that Jefferson had actually passed away several hours earlier.

3. Thomas Jefferson (President from 1801-1809)

His last recorded words are "No, doctor, nothing more," but the three people present at the time of his death all noted that he either stated or asked about the date shortly before his death. The date: July 4, of course. History likes to remember him as closing out his time on earth with this fitting speech: "Is it the Fourth? I resign my spirit to God, my daughter, and my country."

4. James Madison (President from 1809-1817)

"Nothing more than a change of mind, my dear." It was his response when one of his nieces asked him "What is the matter?"

5. James Monroe (President from 1817-1825)

"I regret that I should leave this world without again beholding him" — "him" being James Madison, one of his best friends.

6. John Quincy Adams (President from 1825-1829)

"This is the last of Earth. I am content." JQA actually had a stroke on the floor of the House of Representatives and died in the Speaker's Room in the Capitol Building.

7. Andrew Jackson (President from 1829-1837)

"I hope to meet each of you in heaven. Be good, children, all of you, and strive to be ready when the change comes."

8. Martin Van Buren (President from 1837-1841)

"There is but one reliance."

9. William Henry Harrison (President in 1841)

Spoken to Veep John Tyler: "I understand the true principles of the government. I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more."

10. John Tyler (President from 1841-1845)

"Perhaps it is best."

11. James K. Polk (President from 1845-1849)

"I love you, Sarah. For all eternity, I love you." Sarah, as you might have already assumed, was his wife. She lived for another 42 years.

12. Zachary Taylor (President from 1849-1850)

"I regret nothing, but I am sorry to leave my friends."

13. Millard Fillmore (President from 1850-1853)

"The nourishment is palatable." He was commenting about some soup he had just been fed.

14. Franklin Pierce (President from 1853-1857)

No last words seem to have been recorded for Pierce, though given his tragic life, perhaps they were words of relief that it was finally ending.

Quiz

15. James Buchanan (President from 1857-1861)

"Oh, Lord God Almighty, as thou wilt!"

16. Abraham Lincoln (President from 1861-1865)

"She won't think anything about it." His remark was to his wife, who was wondering what their female theater companion would think if she saw Mary Todd "hanging" on her husband so.

17. Andrew Johnson (President from 1865-1869)

"Oh, do not cry. Be good children and we shall meet in heaven." Rather similar to Andrew Jackson's last words, aren't they?

18. Ulysses S. Grant (President from 1869-1877)

"Water." Grant was suffering from throat cancer and couldn't speak much, but he did write something more poignant shortly before his death: "There was never one more willing to go than I am."

19. Rutherford B. Hayes (President from 1877-1881)

"I know I am going where Lucy is." His wife, teetotaling "Lemonade" Lucy, had died four years before.

20. James Garfield (President during 1881)

"Swaim, can't you stop the pain?" Garfield, who had been shot by an assassin months before, was napping in his room in the company of good friends General David Swaim and Colonel A.F. Rockwell.

21. Chester A. Arthur (President from 1881-1885)

They're not recorded, but a friend said his "almost" last words were, "Life is not worth living."

22. Grover Cleveland (President from 1885-1889 and 1893-1897)

"I have tried so hard to do right."

23. Benjamin Harrison (President from 1889-1893)

"Are the doctors here? Doctor, my lungs..." Harrison died of pneumonia.

24. William McKinley (President from 1897-1901)

"Goodbye, all, goodbye. It is God's way. His will be done."

25. Teddy Roosevelt (President from 1901-1909)

"Put out the light." He was speaking to his valet right before he went to sleep. He died sometime during the night.

26. William Howard Taft (President from 1909-1913)

His words were not recorded for posterity.

27. Woodrow Wilson (President from 1913-1921)

"When the machinery is broken... I am ready."

28. Warren G. Harding (President from 1921-1923)

"That's good. Go on, read some more." His wife had been reading him an article about himself from the Saturday Evening Post.

29. Calvin Coolidge (President from 1923-1929)

"Good morning, Robert." He greeted a carpenter working on his house, then died of coronary thrombosis shortly thereafter.

30. Herbert Hoover (President from 1929-1933)

We don't know the last words he spoke, but the last words he is known to have written were a get-well message to Harry Truman, who hit his head on the bathtub after slipping in his bathroom. In a telegram, Hoover wrote, "Bathtubs are a menace to ex-presidents for as you may recall a bathtub rose up and fractured my vertebrae when I was in Venezuela on your world famine mission in 1946. My warmest sympathy and best wishes for your speedy recovery."

31. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (President from 1933-1945)

"I have a terrific headache." He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage a few minutes later.

32. Harry Truman (President from 1945-1953)

Truman's last words are unknown.

33. Dwight D. Eisenhower (President from 1953-1961)

"I want to go. God take me."

34. John F. Kennedy (President from 1961-1963)

"No, you certainly can't." Kennedy said this in response to his fellow passenger, Nellie Connally, the wife of Gov. John Connally. She had just remarked, "You certainly can't say that the people of Dallas haven't given you a nice welcome, Mr. President." You'll occasionally read that Kennedy's last words were "My God, I've been hit."

35. Lyndon B. Johnson (President from 1963-1969)

"Send Mike immediately." Mike was his Secret Service agent who was housed in a compound 100 yards away from the main house at Johnson's Texas ranch. When agents arrived in Johnson's bedroom, he was already dead.

36. Richard Nixon (President from 1969-1974)

"Help." He said this to a housekeeper as he had a stroke in 1994. Though he remained alert for a period of time after he was taken to the hospital, he was unable to speak.

37. Gerald Ford (President from 1974-1977)

Gerald Ford's last words are not known.

38. Ronald Reagan (President from 1981-1989)

Reagan's last words have not been shared with the public, but his daughter Patti shared his final moments:

"At the last moment when his breathing told us this was it, he opened his eyes and looked straight at my mother. Eyes that hadn't opened for days, did. And they weren't chalky or vague. They were clear, and blue, and full of love. If a death can be lovely, his was. In his last moment, he taught me that there is nothing stronger than love between two people, two souls... It was the last thing he could do in this world to show my mother how entwined their souls are... and it was everything."

39. Jimmy Carter (President from 1977-1981)

Carter, who lived longer than any other president, had been in hospice, and his last confirmed words were in response to his son Chip asking if he was trying to live to 100. "No," said Carter, "I'm trying to live long enough to vote for Kamala Harris." He got his wish, although he was surely unhappy with the outcome.

40. George H.W. Bush (President from 1989-1993)

In the final minutes before his death in 2018, George H.W. Bush's eldest son, former President George W. Bush, called and told him that he loved him and that he had been a "wonderful Dad." George H.W. Bush's last words were therefore a simple reply: "I love you, too."