80 years old is too old to be President?

[kentuck]

It is a demanding job, perhaps the most demanding in the world? It is a job for a younger, more energetic person, in my opinion.

It's just a fact of life. Eighty years old is not the same as fifty or sixty years old. I'm sure there are probably exceptions but, generally speaking, our bodies and minds deteriorate when we reach eighty years.

It was too old for Joe Biden and it is too old for Donald Trump. When you fall asleep during the middle of your own speech, it's a sign you may not be all there.

He needs to step down. He can no longer do the job adequately, if he ever could?

It is not ageism, it is reality.

[rampartd]

1. i'm almost there

no one should need to work after 70 or so

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Yet some perform well into their 90s

I posted an interview with Jeremy Grantham recently, he can still discuss complexities with relevance and eloquence. Of course he's a slim Scotsman who has obviously not filled his life with cheeseburgers.

A treadmill test would separate the fit from the witless.

There is such a thing as too young too. The Doomscroll Generation is ill-prepped for positions of power at 25 or 35. The concepts they understand is Pop Culture Lite. They are ideologue trend followers.

[kentuck]

3. I'm sure the stress of the job may also take a toll...

Very few have the stress of the presidency.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. Agree, it takes order and mental discipline for longevity in positions of power or responsibility

Dump is just off the charts. He's telling everyone what to do while others are telling him what to do. This indicates to me a life without boundaries.

Maybe I read it wrong, maybe money is simply the lubricant in all directions. That was his ticket to rise in the world. Without it .....

[NJCher]

6. I've always said

He would be looking for loose change on the street had he not inherited money.

All the bad genes: he’s got ‘em.

[PatSeg]

13. Yes, I've often envisioned him without money

and it wasn't a pretty sight. He has no real talents or abilities aside from bullying, but he's not smart enough to be a mob boss.

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

17. Back in 2015 someone made a youtube of Trump if he were born without $$

It was great. Whoever they had playing Trump was spot on. Had the look and the mannerisms down pat. He was out on the street corner trying to run all kinds of different scams on people walking by I think he was washing car windows at one point. I haven't been able to find the video since.

[delisen]

10. Ronald Reagan did not find it stressful at all.

[Kaleva]

12. JFK became a Senator at the age of 36

[ProudMNDemocrat]

5. There should be age limits for members of Congress as well.

There are plenty of members of both houses who are in their 70's and above.

No matter the effectiveness o-rf lack thereof, 75 is old enough for Congress; or when their term ends if over that age. The Military has mandatory retirement for its top officer's at 62. The Catholic Church set 70 as a mandatory retirement age for its Priests.

I will be 74 in 6 days. I am still physically active, mentally sharp, overall healthy, but nor could I do the job of Congress or President. I have slowed down somewhat, but that is part of the aging process. My lower back takes longer to warm up than say 10 years ago.

As for Trump, he is a specimen of garbage. If I ate like he does and had his lifestyle, I would already be dead. This man does not have blood running through his veins, he has VENOM. His luck will run out sooner than later. Dementia is a terrible thing and he has it.

[delisen]

8. I have no problem with older representatives.

Sheldon Whitehouse and many others are distinguishing themselves everyday in this battle.

It would be great if more democrats would notice and start supporting them.

[delisen]

7. It is ageism.

Donald Trump eight years ago was unfit for the presidency.The young liar JD Vance is unfit now.

The reality is that the pro democracy majority in our nation failed the vigilance test.

Evil doers, immoral people, thieves, theocrats will seek power and once in charge will use the power to do what they want.

All three branches of our government are in failure. That means the”republic” part of our democratic republic is in failure. What is left is democratic part-that is us. The future of our nation is in our hands.

[hlthe2b]

9. It is demanding for anyone--especially one not physically and mentally fit...

He is neither and wasn't so 20 years or more ago...

Aging is a continuum and there would be exceptions on both sides of the "bell-shaped curve," but the point here is that he was neither physically nor mentally fit decades ago and is only worse now with advancing dementia and physical infirmities.

[Grim Chieftain]

11. Commercial airline pilots have to retire at 65

and they don't even have the nuclear codes.

Just saying...

[GiqueCee]

14. I'll turn 80 next year...

... and I say, frequently, that memory's one of the first three things to go... I forget what the other two are.
I try to keep my mind sharp by reading voraciously, and keeping up with what's happening in the world, but a rambunctious youth will catch up to you, and my bad knees and worse back won't let me forget it. I don't even buy green bananas anymore. I'll let y'all figure out why.

[delisen]

15. How many 80 year olds do you see daily

How many do you interact with daily?

Carry on philosophical or scientific discussions?

[paleotn]

16. Agreed. It's simply biology not ageism.

But there's more. One thought on reading your post. It's kind of an extension of Jefferson's idea that the earth belongs exclusively to the living and the dead have no powers or rights over it. From Jefferson's letter to Madison in 1789.

Now, granted, those in their 80's aren't dead yet, but legislation passed by the McConnell's, Grassley's and even Bernie's of the US Congress, even worse, SCOTUS decisions, have multi generational impacts, and as we've seen, can be damn difficult reverse. The rub being, none of those people will live to see the full repercussions.

If you're 80 you have maybe a decade to a decade and a half left. People in their 30's have 5 to 6 TIMES longer to live with those repercussions. Should they not have the greater say in the matter? Madison responded to Jefferson that predecessors leave a valuable legacy. But not always. Some things are universal truths and span generations, but many things do not. They based their decisions on the world they lived in that may not fully exist anymore. Even while they're still alive.

Obviously there's the argument of experience. I'm approaching mid 60's, and professionally, when it comes to decision making, I'm better than my much younger colleagues. Ironically, faster. Simply because I've been there before. But even if I haven't been exactly there, I still have a good feel for the pitfalls. Similar things that didn't work and why they didn't work. Then again, I've got maybe half a decade left before retirement, maybe more. Those younger colleagues may have to live with the mistakes made by guys like me who've sailed off into retirement. Decisions that made sense at the time but no longer do. Maybe my experience just wasn't valid anymore in an economic environment that's changed drastically since I had a full head of hair.

Not only is there a physical dimension. We may not fully understand the world younger generations live in. Humans are stubborn creatures who don't like change. But reality doesn't care. It keeps changing.

Short answer, yes, there should be age limits. Revised on occasion as human longevity changes. And younger members should have far more say than they have now. They're the one's who are going to have to live with these decisions long after we're gone.

https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/mss/mtj/mtj1/011/011_0912_0958.pdf

[Tom Rinaldo]

21. I agree with the premise of your post.

I feel that in my own life, a natural sense of stepping back somewhat to let those who will live with the consequences of choices being made now take the lead in determining how those choices are made. There is no doubt that Seniors are far over represented in leadership posts while youth are correspondingly under represented. But there is a need for both perspectives to be fully present in societal debates, so some select elders should be in the room where decisions are being made. I feel similarly about age limits as I do about term limits. There are compelling reasons for both restrictions to be enacted, but they are not ideal solutions to real problems. They are blunt instruments that do not recognize when exceptions should be made. However if we prove incapable of exercising adequate judgement in these matters, and we consistently err on the side of keeping too many people in power longer than they should be, perhaps those limits are needed.

[Tom Rinaldo]

18. It's never ideal. Energy levels decline at the very least. A few can pull it off though and wisdom helps

Aside from whatever opinion you have of Bernie Sanders (I happen to love him) he still has adequate energy, and he remains sharp as a tack. I am reluctant to vote for someone my age (I'm 76) for an important office, I would rather support someone younger. But I make exceptions to that, often without too much hesitation.

Age is a very real factor, but sometimes the best viable person for the job happens to be older than I wish they were. It's a case by case type of thing. In general I do think 80 is too old for the job of President.

[question everything]

19. A 92 year old (Grassley) is fourth in line for the presidency

[Swede]

20. If an existential emergency breaks out during nap time...

and they wake him, all groggy and miserable.

[gulliver]

22. I go exclusively by quality

For me, a good candidate needs high intelligence, broad knowledge, a minimum threshold of experience, a track record, and enough charisma to lead.

People who are merely young, fiery, or attractive are fool's gold. I don't shop for leaders on Temu.

[Martin Eden]

23. Trump has always been mentally and morally unfit. Regarding ageism...

As we age, mental and physical stamina decrease. It does of course vary by the individual. Also, we become more susceptable to a myriad of medical conditions which may not be detectable at the beginning of a four year term.

My next door neighbor is 92, mentally sharp, and physically fit for his age -- but I would not want anyone that age to bear the weight of all the responsibilities and critical decisions facing a president. For someone who really cares about the consequences for people in all walks of life , for the planet and future generations (which excludes Trump) the stress can exacerbate declining mental and physical stamina. During a global crisis or on the brink of war, a president may have to be up at all hours of the night making critical decisions.

I have great respect for Joe Biden, but was he fit for another term at the end of which he would be 86 years old? We're talking about an extremely demanding job which not only requires mental acuity with a broad base of knowledge, but being able to project sharpness and toughness in situations when all eyes are upon you -- inspiring confidence.

I don't think Joe had that at the end of his first term; certainly not to the extraordinary degree needed for the most powerful elected office on the planet. Ordinary is insufficient. Even for someone well ahead of the aging curve, is 90 too old? How about 100? Am I ageist if I say that's too old?