When he was running for reelection in 1984, Ronald Reagan sought to make light of the fact that, at 73, he was the oldest major-party presidential nominee in American history.
“I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience,” he famously joked at a debate with Walter Mondale, the Democratic nominee, who was 56 at the time.
Reagan would have no reason to worry today. Both of the likely major party nominees in 2024 are significantly older than he was at the end of his first term: President Biden is 80, while Donald Trump is 77.
Congressional leaders are even older: Sen. Mitch McConnell is 81; Sen. Dianne Feinstein is 90; former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who just announced she is running for another term, is 83.
I noticed that no one here is lamenting the age of Ron Johnson (68 now, 73 at the end of his current term). Is he “so, so, old”? At the end of World War II, Churchill was 71. Was he “so, so, old”?
Or do we just call candidates “so, so, old” when we don’t prefer them, adding another convenient log to the fire of dismissal?
Our founders rightly set an age requirement (35) in order to serve as President, knowing that there is a set of life experiences needed in order to have the wisdom to govern. They did NOT set, however, an age limit. Theirs was a time of reverence and respect for the aged, whose tremendous wisdom and experience was highly valued by society. And with that, came the wisdom of knowing when to step aside as personal health dictated.
You are certainly free to use raw age as a factor in selecting a candidate. But it my mind, competency is more important to me, at ANY age. I’ll vote Trump in the primary because I believe he has the ability and the will to carry out his campaign promises, which are largely in line with my beliefs. If he loses the primary, I’ll vote DeSantis, Haley, Ramaswamy, or whoever, not because they are young (or younger), but because they also are competent.
And, I’ll keep reading this blog, even when the author is “so, so, old” (unless he becomes incompetent…)
Well, I don’t look at just age.
There are many older people who are very sharp and can function mentally at a high level.
Look at Fetterman. He’s fairly young but is mentally disabled.
Chuck Geassley is in his late 80’s and he is still with it.
You need to look to see how they function, not their age
McConnell, Biden, Weinstein. Fetterman and I am sure there are others, can barely function in life, much less function as a politician.