chicago103

I voted for Betty Ford, to die shortly after hitting the big 90 today.

Today is her 90th birthday, she made it to this milestone but she is still suspiciously absent from the news. I just did a google news search and sure enough there are a number of articles about her 90th birthday such as the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan having events to mark it but nothing about her attending any birthday parties either there or in California, by contrast when her husband turned 90 he had a party at the library in Michigan and at the White House with President Bush, both of which he attended. The most I could find out about her condition was an article that said that friends of the family planned to call her on her birthday, showing she is at least with it enough mentally to take phone calls. Still, the fact that she is nowhere to be seen on her big birthday is a sign that her health is not very good at all. Its like when the Reagan library celebrated birthdays and anniversaries in his later years and the last couple years of Gerald Ford's life, the library and everyone is almost mentioning her in past tense even though she is still alive. I still think there is a good chance she will go this year. For the record it has been one year since she has been in the news (besides notes of her absence at events commemorating her husband and at Lady Bird Johnson's funeral) and that was for a hospitalization around her birthday last year; and it has now been over 15 months since she was last seen in public and that was on the day her husband's body went into the ground in Michigan.

Today is her 91st birthday.

Suharto for 2008 thus far.

How about US Vice-Presidents? Dick Cheney turned 67 today and has all those heart problems, how long will he live after he leaves office? George H.W. Bush is also an ex-president and will turn 84 this year. Walter Mondale is now 80 years old.

If he is just a former candidate then it will pass the test for the rest of this year but not beyond. On the other hand if John Edwards becomes Vice President of Attorney General she would remain noteworthy.

What an amazingly ignorant comment. Well, yes, of course, they do - it's down to their beliefs & religion. Dodi was buried the same way without fuss. Probably the best way so there's no circus act like Diana's. I was aware of the religious reasons, I was just making an observation at how quickly they bury their dead as opposed to how long it takes to bury major political figures in the west, it seems that we have alot more ceremony or at least dragged out for so much longer. The last three US Presidnents from death to burial was five days for Nixon, six days for Reagan and eight days for Ford.

There's at least one more Presidential parent who died older than the age Roberta McCain is now, who is Susanna Boylston Adams, the mother of John Adams who died at 98. Your right, its hard to remember them all. Speaking of first family deaths, Harry Truman's daughter died yesterday at 83. Presidential children are a bit far fetched as far as a prominent death list candidates though, although John Eisenhower, son of Dwight Eisenhower is 85 and has already lived longer than both of his parent's did.

Prospective Presidential parents in 2009; Roberta McCain, the nearly 96 year old mother of John McCain. Especially if McCain becomes president, being the mother of a president would be a big deal, she would be the second longest live parent of a president to my knowledge after Rose Kennedy's 104 years. Dorothy Howell Rodham, mother of Hillary Rodham Clinton, she will turn 89 this year and thus is also up there in age. Even if Hillary doesn't become president she might be a good bet being the mother of a former first lady. Those are the only living parents of major presidential candidates.

Halibuts sure bury their dead very quickly, Bhutto was also buried like a day or two after her death. It can take a week before a former US president is in the ground.

Stating that Jesus Christ's death was the most significant in human history has nothing to do with whether you are a believer or not and even if you do believe he rose from the dead he still died before he rose. This has to do with just objective observation of the impact his death had. I think it is a historical consenses that he did exist and that he did die in the manner that he did, beyond that how do we know that other historical figures such as Julius Ceaser died exactly the way the story says, so it is reasonable to assume that a man named Jesus did die by crucifixion and his death had the largest impact on human history. Think about it, our very calendar is based on his life and he is best known for how he died. Countless images of his death (crosses, crusifixes, paintings) has been a major part of art for centuries, buildings built (churches) that perform rituals that remind us of his death (the last supper, the crucifixion, etc), the world's largest religion's main focus is on this man's death. The entirety of western civilization was focused on this man's death for centuries and still does to this day to a degree. Even other well known religious figures (Muhammed, Budda, etc.) aren't as well known for how they died as Jesus. Just the idea that well over a billion people in this world believe that this man died for the sins of the world. So I think its clear that regardless of any personal beliefs or biases we have about the theological claims that Jesus Christ's death was the most significant in human history.

Most significant death of 2008 thus far is either Edmund Hillary or Heath Ledger, I say its Hillary that has the edge mostly for the longer amount of time he has been well known.

Cary Grant wasn't dead yet in that picture, he was on his way to the hospital and died a few hours later.

He turned 91 today (January 24th).

If she'd lived as long as Lady Bird Johnson we'd be still celebrating because Lady Bird died last year, so to get two former first ladies on the same day would have been quite a turn up for the books. A point though for spelling "you're" correctly, I'd have wagered dollars to donuts that a drive-by ranter would get that wrong 10 times out of 10 I assume he meant that Betty Ford will live as long as Lady Bird meaning roughly 94 1/2 years old. Personally I doubt Betty Ford will live that long, she is less active than Lady Bird was in her last few years even though she had suffered a stroke that left her partially disabled. It has nothing to do with her being a nice lady or not, just an observation that she disappeared off the face of the earth as soon as her husband went into the ground. I did find an article online that mentioned that a month ago the Ford family "had a quiet Christmas with Betty Ford" but pretty much all we can gather is that she still lives at the home in Rancho Mirage. When Ford family press releases are vague its usually a bad sign. In the months before Gerald's death they kept saying "oh he is doing ok, still recovering and spending quiet time at home" but in reality he was dying and getting worse day by day. According to Tom DeFrank in his book "Write it When I'm Gone" Betty Ford has suffered from clotting in the legs and thats why she was hospitalized last April and it wasn't the first time.

Actually there are six former presidents and first ladies that are 80+. Betty Ford (89), Nancy Reagan (86), George H.W. Bush (83), Jimmy Carter (83), Barbara Bush (82), and Rosalyn Carter (80). So all six of them will have to die (and I think it will be awhile before all of them are gone) then we look at the Clintons and the younger Bushs, I mean Clinton has had heart problems, 10 years from now who knows what health he will be in. Also if John McCain becomes the next president he becomes a decent candidate being 71 now. So I think this is a tradition that can be kept up in the long term.

It has now been over a year since her husband was buried and she was last seen in public, heck even Lady Bird Johnson managed to make a public appearance or two within a year of her death. I suppose only the Ford family, medical professionals and the secret service even know what her condition is. Her husband's office in California shut down last spring, she hasn't even been on her own clinic's board for the past couple years, her daughter now fills that funcion. I know part of it might be the fact that her husband's museum and library are all the way in Michigan but I mean seriously the lack of an obituary is the only sign she is even still alive.

Nancy Reagan is in much better shape than Betty Ford and is still fairly active but that being said she might be a good candidate in 2009 because she will turn 88 that year.

I say George H.W. Bush will live to see his son's term as president end and we will have the first father/son pair of ex-president's. That being said he might be a good death list candidate for 2009. I think he will be the next president to die but I don't see it happening very soon.

He is still in quite good health and is very active, I don't expect him or George H.W. Bush to go in 2008. Then again Richard Nixon was very active when he died of a sudden stroke at 81, but he suffered the loss of his wife the previous year, so barring something like that I don't expect a presidential death this year. In terms of first family deaths in recent years we had Ronald Reagain in 2004, Gerald Ford in 2006 and Lady Bird Johnson in 2007. There is a good chance Betty Ford may go this year or at the very least will be next, after she goes we need to find somebody to replace her and keep the tradition of deathlist always having a former US president or first lady on the list every year going back to at least 1994. Nancy Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter might all be good candidates for 2009 if for no other reason that they are all well into their 80's.

She was born on the exact same day as my grandmother, February 6, 1917 but she seems to be in much worse health having survived a severe stroke in 2005 and being hospitalized this past September. Once you hit 90 for the most part you can go at anytime but if you have major health problems from the offset that makes things much worse for them. Zsa Zsa seems to be fitting the pattern of 90 something or near 90 celebrities that make token public appearances and pictures, hospitalized for undisclosed ailments with deceptively optomistic press releases from the family regarding health and the culmination of this pattern is just a quiet death one day followed by a media frenzy (i.e. Gerald Ford, Lady Bird Johnson, Edmund Hillary).

Poetic irony if he were to die in 2010. Personally I hope he makes it and contributes to a successfull deathlist year in 2010!

Well he is looking down at Mount Everest now. He is the most significant death of 2008 thus far, but the year is still very young. Also, a personal oddity is that yesterday was my last day working at The North Face here in Chicago, amoung other things a store that sells mountain climbing equipment including many people who climb Everest.

The death of a potential first lady. Should John Edwards be elected president and Elizabeth dies it will be the first time since Woodrow Wilson became a widower that the US has had no incumbent first lady.

An offshoot of the discussion of the most significant deaths by year. I don't know how to post a poll, if someone could for me I would appreciate it. [Poll added - ff] The candidates for the most significant death of 2007 listed in chronological order of death in the year are: Anna Nicole Smith Boris Yeltsin Lady Bird Johnson Tammy Faye Messner Luciano Pavorotti Benzanir Bhutto