By Carol Lucas
There is a great deal of chatter going on these days about the dire need for a new generation to take over the political scene. Our former governor, for one, has let this become a mantra for her campaign.
The translation seems to be, “Old people need to get out of the way, and make way for younger ones.” This line of thinking leans heavily upon health issues, especially the presumed loss of cognitive skills.
I think we can all agree that with age comes the process of slowing down. What constitutes “slowing down” is no doubt in the eye of the beholder (and the mind of the opposition).
That said, are we willing to ignore the wisdom acquired along the way and the experience that comes with growing older? Do the attributes of wisdom and experience take a back seat to youth and vitality?
In an effort to answer some of these questions, I chose to explore a few individuals who held the presidency from the time our nation was birthed until now. The information I found addressed not only the respective ages, but also the health of some of our heads of state.
The youngest to become President of our country was Theodore Roosevelt. He was 42 years old when he succeeded to the office after the assassination of William McKinley. John F. Kennedy was the youngest elected to office at age 43.
To the current question at hand, Joe Biden was the oldest person elected president at age 77. Biden celebrated a birthday between the election and his inauguration, making him 78 when sworn into office. And to complete the age spectrum, Donald Trump is now 77. Should he be elected in November of 2024, he will be 78 plus 220 days, closer to 79.
Medical experts say concerns about age have some validity, but that conditions can vary considerably. For a moment, let’s consider cognitive skills. This entails the ability of an individual to perform various mental activities most closely associated with learning, and applying that learning to problem solving. This requires attention, often the ability to memorize, use of logic and reasoning as well as processing.
Just as important as cognitive ability is physical health. Physical ailments have plagued many of our presidents. Madison suffered from epilepsy. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who served four terms, contracted polio at age 39, and both Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were hearing impaired. Jack Kennedy’s back injury relegated him to a rocking chair much of the time.
As for cognitive disorders, history tells us that Washington had cognitive disability that made learning difficult. In many respects he was a self-taught man who worked his way through this disability by sheer determination. Jefferson also was said to have had a learning disability that he worked hard to keep under wraps.
Regardless of how you view these men as politicians, the fact is all of them dealt with a disability of some kind.
I discovered more than one medical source that stressed the correlation of physical activity to that of mental alertness. Very simply, the physically active individual enhances his ability to function cognitively in a more effective manner.
Republicans consistently beat the drum of Joe Biden’s supposed dementia, while conveniently ignoring Mitch McConnell’s two recent “frozen” moments on camera. Those supporting McConnell wish to push this aside by saying these incidents are attributed to the concussion he sustained and are part of the healing process. Perhaps, but I also read something recently suggesting that several physicians see these incidents as indicative of seizures and believe he needs to seek additional opinions.
Those who see Biden’s way of speaking slowly point to the fact that he has had a pronounced stutter all of his life. His slow manner of speech, they say, reflects his taking time to clearly enunciate and avoid that stutter. That he has been able to successfully communicate with many world leaders should count for something.
In some respects, people have a right to question age as a factor when electing our political leaders. But do we forego wisdom and experience in favor of youth and the inherent inexperience? I think not.
It is said that with age comes wisdom. For a long time many of the advertisements that confronted us on television and in magazines stressed “the beauty of youth.” Later management of the various industries, as well as those creating the ads, came to recognize they were ignoring an important faction who had the money to spend. Thus they changed directions, moving away from the bold and the beautiful to the everyday man and woman who purchase their products.
Perhaps voters need to adopt the same mentality by assessing what the candidate has accomplished during “his time at bat.” Did he hit a home run or was he out at first? Furthermore, does he ride his bicycle or his golf cart?
Carol Lucas is a retired high school teacher and a Lady’s Island resident. She is the author of the recently published “A Breath Away: One Woman’s Journey Through Widowhood.”
