Which two signers of the Declaration of Independence later became U.S. presidents and died on July 4, 1826?

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were the two Declaration signers who later became U.S. presidents and died on July 4, 1826.

Jefferson drafted most of the Declaration, while Adams strongly advocated independence and served on the committee that presented the draft to Congress. Both later became presidents: Adams was the second president, and Jefferson was the third.

Their deaths occurred on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration’s adoption. Jefferson died at Monticello in Virginia, and Adams died at Quincy in Massachusetts, separated by hundreds of miles. Adams’s reported final words, “Thomas Jefferson still lives,” were tragically mistaken because Jefferson had died earlier the same day.

George Washington became the first president but did not sign the Declaration, since he was commanding the Continental Army rather than serving as a congressional delegate. Benjamin Franklin signed the Declaration but never became president.