Age Limit for Prez

[switt]

McConnell has clear problems, is likely having seizures, and, unless they have been very good at hiding the condition (epilepsy) for a very long time, those seizures are almost certainly age related (my mother developed seizures after having a stroke).

Yes, McConnel has clear problems and he has recognize the same and stepped down. I understand that age is most probably related to his problems, but having a definite age for office is not the way to go. What if you have the same problems at 35? I believe the voters consider competency when voting, trump being an exception to this consideration. I guess he makes for it with his entertainment skills.

 

[Common Sense 1]

Leave it up to the voters as scary as that is.

As it is now the only age limit is you must be 35 years old to run for the presidency.

 

[Geoist]

Age cap at 70 or 75 is completely reasonable. If it's ageist to have a max age then it's ageist to have a minimum age.

 

[ForrestBee]

Biden is dementia so he have to be OUT

Trump have all his brain so he could be President

 

[roguenuke]

Yes, McConnel has clear problems and he has recognize the same and stepped down. I understand that age is most probably related to his problems, but having a definite age for office is not the way to go. What if you have the same problems at 35? I believe the voters consider competency when voting, trump being an exception to this consideration. I guess he makes for it with his entertainment skills.

I agree with you. I don't think we should have age limits.

 

[Gaius46]

Understood, and thanks for the details!

However, arguing that behavior that would haul a pilot in front of the FAA is sort of underscoring the point I was making. In this scenario, the exception sort of proves the rule.

There is a reason it is uncommon for 80 year old pilots to fly commercial passenger aircraft with 180 passengers aboard.

Pilots have to have a medical certification. Depending on your class of license the medical certification is either every 2 years for holders of private pilot certificates (3rd class medical), every year for commercial
pilot certificate holders like me (2nd class medical) or 6 months (1st class medical) for Airline Transport pilot certificate holders (all airline and most if not all charter and corporate pilots). Aside from higher frequency the higher medicals require more stringent testing. For example the fact that I need glasses disqualifies me from a 2nd class medical but the FAA pretty much always issues waivers for glasses so I - really no one I know - have ever had a problem.

There is no cognitive testing for 2nd and 3rd class medicals and as far as I know none for 1st class - I've never held one and am honestly too lazy to get up from my comfy seat and bottle of Guinness to check. What they more worry about is physical impairment: having a heart attack or passing
out etc. By the time one is 80 passing a 1st class medical is probably gonna be a dicey proposition for most people.

 

[coyote505]

Okay, we're all saying they're both too old. So I'm curious, what age do you think would be a good cap, if for some fantastical reason we were able to get Congress to add an age cap alongside the age requirement of 30.

What do you all think?

The Minimum age by Constitution is 35 years. 30 is for Senator. I would pick 75 on the last day in office as the limit, therefore 71 on inauguration. This is arbitrary, but this 76 year old is too old to be president, and I think most of my cohorts are too.

Intelligence, meaning the ability to learn, peaks sometime in the early 20s, but knowledge and wisdom continue to develop. If the two curves are added together, the intellectual value of the individual continues to increase, in most cases into the 60s or slightly beyond. After 70, the loss of mental agility begins to outweigh the increase in wisdom. Where this balance exists depends on the job. For a fighter pilot, probably in the mid to late 40s. For a professor, probably in the early 70s.

There are always exceptions. Winston Churchill essentially took over the management of the war against Hitler at age 65, continuing for 5years. After England improvidently turned him out for kinder, gentler liberals, the economy stagnated at 1945 levels until 1950. When they needed someone to kick society in the ass and get it going, they rehired him for another 5 year term, and he got them going again. After that, he retired to a life of writing and lecturing and was much in demand in his 80s.

 

[BrotherFease]

I know I have said this before, but there should be no age limitation.

It's illogical and discriminatory in my view. People can lose their cognitive abilities at any age. Genes and lifestyle choices play a large role. There are people in their 70s and 80s with a sharp mind and have the ability to make complex decisions, example, would be my great Aunts. But on the other hand, we have senior citizens, like Grandma, who got dementia in their 80s.

If people are uncomfortable voting for somebody in their 70s and 80s, then don't vote for them. Let the people decide. But when you look at these primaries: Americans are disproportionately favoring the oldest candidates.

Democratic Primaries - Biden 86.6% of the vote
Republican Primaries - Trump 74.6% of the vote.