At age 74, Bernie Sanders is 20-25 years too old to be hired as a computer programmer (to judge by employers’ actual hiring practices). Is he too old to be President of the U.S.? I might have said “yes” until this week when I signed up for a group lesson at Beaver Creek, Colorado. Wink started ski instructor school at 48 and has been working full-time since then. He’s 77 years old, recently did a two-day 200-mile bike ride, and teaches every day at Beaver Creek or Vail.
Readers: What do you think? Bernie would be working as President from age 75-79 or from 75-83? Is that too old? Or has railing against Wall Street kept him young at heart?
Unfortunately we will all start to have mental deterioration at some point, yet many aged presidents have managed to operate very well. Part of the key I think is how well they pick their cabinet and appointees – the younger guys with sharp minds and the President with political experience. Having said that, I would still prefer a younger guy – quicker on their feet in new situations, and more energetic and durable.
I don’t think 74 is too old… At 79, maybe – mental faculties might be diminished to the point that’s too far – you forget things. But with right advisers, the emphasis maybe more on judgement rather than great (recent) memory or arithmetic type skills. There’s also the matter of efficiency – I think some older people don’t have those bursts of energy that youthful people might have (at least those of us who are not hobbled by typical American diet of sugar, fried food and couch/television), but they also know how to conserve energy and pace themselves. This shows up in how some older people can withstand durability contests of distance running or swimming. Same could be said of women vs men, and in another sport I’ve done as a man – rockclimbing, in my first lesson, years ago, the late middle age male guide explained that he sees many couples start and only women continue. Men are used to relying on their arm strength so try to overcome obstacles by pulling up, while rockclimbing is more about core and leg strength and efficiency – things that women rely on more since they are not usually as strong in the arms. So men get exhausted and can’t compete with women at the end of those first days climbing.
Reagan, Bush the Younger, FDR, and also probably others I’ve not heard about lost their marbles quite badly while in office by multiple accounts. By some accounts Hilary is losing her marbles right now and is on a mess of drugs. Bill Clinton has lost his marbles and is kept away from microphones.
We need a constitutional amendment. Over 65 is too old to be running for president or the senate. The terms are long enough that on an actuarial basis the risks are too high that the candidate loses marbles.
How could you know if someone is too old? You’d need IQ-test/reaction-time/balance/memory/etc data going back years to see if there’s a decline. Even though bare fitness+ability is not sufficient to make an effective leader (you need also the right network + mental habits + worldview + soft skills) we should at least rule out the weak in advance – I don’t mean fighter pilot or astronaut or special forces level fitness, just “likely to hold it together”.
For US President, I am voting for whomever is /least/ likely to start any more useless foreign wars. I am OK with defending the country if Canada invades, but that’s the limit.
Given this criteria, someone who is dead might be best.
Seriously, will Wink run? He sounds great.
> How could you know if someone is too old?
How could you know if somebody is too young? In this land of hundreds of millions I bet there are 18 year olds who could win office and do a bang-up job. Yet the constitution says you have to be 35, for sound reasons in my opinion.
POTUS — Character traits I look for in a President: wide range of life experience, cautious but not paralyzed by indecision, intellectual depth (not overwhelmed by complex problems ), understands history beyond propaganda and clichés, unafraid to seek council from those with opposing views, able to take the long view at the expense of political expediency, sufficient energy and resilience to bear the burdens of the job.
Bernie Sanders at 74 appears to meet the physiological requirements of the job.
Abraham Lincoln: 51 in 1860, civil war
Winston Churchill: 66 in 1940, WWII
Franklin D. Roosevelt: 58 in 1940, WWII
Dwight D. Eisenhower: 70 in 1960, approved Bay of Pigs
John F. Kennedy: 45 in 1962, Cuban Missile Crisis
Lyndon B. Johnson: 56 in 1964, Vietnam War (Gulf of Tonkin Resolution)
George W. Bush: 57 in 2003, Iraq war
Each of Churchill, FDR, and JFK should have been barred from office for medical reasons. They were all on drugs.
LBJ and Churchill were also high functioning alcoholics, which should have barred them from office.
Considering Americans would revive a 146 year old Vladimir Lenin if they could, 74 is hardly old. They’d re-elect him of course.
Could Bernie work as president … Well, what’s his handicap?
Obviously health issues can strike at any age, but become more likely as one ages. Sanders seems in good health (but we haven’t seen his medical charts) and his mind still seems sharp. I would gamble on him for 4 years if he picks a decent VP (I think the thought of a President Palin scared a lot of voters away from McCain, based on his age). Note that McCain is still going strong and is the same age as Sanders would be after his first term.
I believe the optimal age for a president is in about the persons 40’s. That’s probably the age where experience and ability to react to new situations peak in terms of politics.
Source
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_gxYAfFM1cj0/S6hXmZ4qtjI/AAAAAAAAAUc/mBtqICfKs2w/brainage.jpg
A huge issue for someone in their 70’s is that in the later 60’s, cognitive decline starts taking a rapid turn for the worse. There’s a huge chance of sanders having dementia related issues at that age. And that is the average case. Some people have relatively little decline who are fully cognizant and witty in their late 90’s (the lowest 5 percent decliners) and there are those who have dementia in their late 30’s(fastest 0.5 decliners). Rare, but terrible.
This reminds of me Reagan’s age-old wisdom response [1]:
“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”
[1] http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1844704_1844706_1844612,00.html
>Jonathan Graehl
I actually am not sure why in this day and age there isn’t a memory/verbal ability/math acumen/general health and physical fitness exam in order to discover a potential president. There probably are plenty of guys in their 70’s fit to be president. Simply a higher percentage would not pass the health and memory tests, but by no means all would not pass.
Does china have something to that effect? I have had trouble locating the specifics of china’s meritocracy ideal.
Side Note: Lee Kuan Yew, former Prime Minister of Singapore, once suggested that a married man of age 40-60 be allowed 2 votes. My guess is the age limit of 60 was to account for general decline.