by Robert M. Traxler
How old is too old to be President of the United States?
Former Vice President Joe Biden is 78 years old pushing 79, born on Nov. 20, 1942. President Donald Trump is 74 going on 75, birth date June 14, 1946. Both gentlemen are old, just no getting around that fact; we can debate which man is the most affected by age until the cows come home, but both are old.
The American Constitution outlines the requirements for President:
U.S. Constitutional Requirements for Presidential Candidates
The president must:
-
Be a natural-born citizen of the United States
-
Be at least 35 years old
-
Have been a resident of the United States for 14 years
Anyone who meets these requirements can declare his/her candidacy for president. Once a candidate raises or spends more than $5,000 for a campaign, he/she must register with the Federal Election Commission. That includes naming a principal campaign committee to raise and spend campaign funds.
Interestingly, the majority opinion on why the requirements were set down in the Constitution was to keep a group or party from installing a king and calling him the president. In the 1700s it was not unusual for a person from a royal family to be installed as king even if they had never set foot in the nation they would rule. The natural born citizen and 14-year resident requirements ensured no young Hapsburg or Windsor would show up to run for president and then become a king.
Perhaps it is time to take a good look at a requirement that establishes a maximum age. It is my opinion that both major parties’ candidates are too old to handle the stress of the presidency and will be place holders or marionettes to a certain extent, with their strings being manipulated by senior staff.
President Barack Obama even dismissed Vice President Biden’s age by maintaining that we need not worry, because a President Biden will have good people around him to “advise him.” We need to ask, just who will run the country in a Biden presidency, someone we elect or unnamed bureaucrats?
President Donald Trump appears to more cognitively sharp, but for how long? We do now know President Regan was slipping in the last year of his presidency at age 77, a few days away from 78, when he left office. President Trump will be 79 and a President Biden will be 83 at the end of their term if elected/re-elected.
The media is working overtime to hide Biden’s loss of focus and ability to stay on track, and not wandering in his answers to basic questions. President Trump is more focused; that is hard to deny if you take an objective look at Mr. Biden’s recent non-scripted comments. Biden has the benefit of a media suffering from a deep and wide disdain for President Trump, and they are committed to a Biden presidency even if he will be a figurehead run by handlers and apparatchik to a much greater extent than President Trump.
The debates will tell us a good bit about each gentleman’s ability to think on his feet if and only if the media plays fair — fat chance of that happening.
Biden’s strategy of cloistering himself in his fallout shelter basement and doing virtual tours of states like Ohio is a good one, as we cannot see his loss of mind cognitive detail. Couple that with the willing media cut-and-pasting his rambling answers to basic questions, and we will not see the real Mr. Biden.
A maximum age will never be set for the presidency, as old folks vote and most of us will object to an age ceiling; it is a good idea that will never happen.
You raise an interesting consideration. Some folks are still very sharp well into old age. Like him or not, Bernie Sanders comes to mind. I once spoke to Bob Dole when he was well advanced in age, and he seemed, at least in casual conversation, very on top of things.
The second Reagan term suggests the rightness of your concern, as you were correct to bring that up. Putting in place a maximum age may be a thorny problem. What number is correct? Any choice would be arbitrary. As was earlier suggested, a neuro-psych exam might be somewhat more illuminating.
Of course, in any election in which there is a sitting incumbent, much of the it rests as a referendum on the President. And, debates are something argued for by those trailing in the polls. Can Trump defend his record? Can Biden present his reasons for a change in the White House? It should be an interesting three months.
Mr. Basura,
Thanks for the comment.
The argument can be made we have wise and mature 34 year olds but we set a bottom age. Do not forget Senator Sanders heart attack.
Thanks again.
After giving this issue some serious thought, I find myself of the same mind about establishing a maximum age for the presidency as I am about term limits.
The voters themselves can decide at what age a man or woman has become too old for the job of president. If they deem the candidate too old, they can simply not vote for him.
Now, as to when a sitting president becomes “too old” for the job, that may be an area where a change might be considered. I don’t have a suggestion as to what that change might entail. Those more educated about constitutional law might have some ideas.
But as for setting an arbitrary age as too old? In my humble opinion it’s not a good idea.
Ms. Mandaville,
Thanks for the comment. An age limit will never happen, it may be a sound concept but one that will never see the light of day. Being too old is always the person from the other party, not yours or mine.