Joe Biden is 77. Bernie Sanders is 78. Donald Trump is 73. Each would be the oldest president to give an inaugural address in American history.
I wrote about why U.S. presidential politics got so freaking old.
theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
I wrote about why U.S. presidential politics got so freaking old.
theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
If, through some constitutional glitch, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, or Barack Obama jumped into the 2020 race *at this very moment* each would suddenly become the youngest man in the contest.
There is a demand issue and a supply issue.
On the demand side: America is getting older, old voters vote more, and political science research suggests that voters gravitate to candidates close to their own age.
On the demand side: America is getting older, old voters vote more, and political science research suggests that voters gravitate to candidates close to their own age.
Also on the demand side: The U.S. electorate has increasingly fallen for familiar novices. Since '96, every new POTUS has had less nat'l political experience than the previous one; candidates with celebrity-level familiarity who are ALSO not steeped in establishment experience. 
But I think American gerontocracy is more about supply—the political pipeline is ancient.
The average age in Congress is near an all-time high. The House speaker, House majority leader, House majority whip, and Senate majority leader are all over 75.
The average age in Congress is near an all-time high. The House speaker, House majority leader, House majority whip, and Senate majority leader are all over 75.
It's not just politics. Across business, science, and finance, power is concentrated among the elderly.
- CEOs are older.
- Nobel Prize winners are older in physics, chemistry, medicine, and literature.
- Wealth concentration among the old is near an all-time high.
- CEOs are older.
- Nobel Prize winners are older in physics, chemistry, medicine, and literature.
- Wealth concentration among the old is near an all-time high.
Why does this matter?
1. In politics and power, age is not just a number.
Gerontocracy is a cousin to plutocracy. Power concentrated in the hands of the old and rich creates laws that benefit the old and the rich at the expense of the less privileged.
1. In politics and power, age is not just a number.
Gerontocracy is a cousin to plutocracy. Power concentrated in the hands of the old and rich creates laws that benefit the old and the rich at the expense of the less privileged.
2. Cognitive deterioration typically accelerates in the 70something population.
Without encouraging ageism, it seems risky to leave the most important issues of human welfare in the hands of a group of septuagenarians, who are in the biological crosshairs of cognitive decline
Without encouraging ageism, it seems risky to leave the most important issues of human welfare in the hands of a group of septuagenarians, who are in the biological crosshairs of cognitive decline
2 cont.) As @jameshamblin has written, people in their 70s are "cognitively diverse." Some are extremely sharp. Some are not. Given that diversity, we should at minimum address the advanced age of our leadership with simple cognitive tests.
theatlantic.com/health/archive…
theatlantic.com/health/archive…
3) Finally, the most important challenge before the U.S. and the world—climate change—is profoundly intergenerational. Solving it requires the input and ideas of the generations that will be most affected by it.
If government of the elderly, by the elderly, and for the elderly will not perish from the Earth, it is the rest of us who may suffer the most.
theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
