By Daniel Nardini
Well, for the past ten years the United States has had two presidents who are old men. Because of this, the political climate and machinery of government has seized up and is becoming more non-functional every year. I find this not only sad but even contemptible. I am well aware that the U.S. Constitution states that anyone who runs for the presidency has to be at least 35 years old. There is no age limitation in terms of how old they have to be before they are no loner qualified to be president. It is now becoming increasingly clear that an age limit for the maximum age a candidate should be needs to be set so they cannot run for the presidency. Current U.S. President Donald Trump is now 80, and before him former U.S. President Joe Biden was 82 when he left office. I have seen how both presidents have shown themselves to be less than ideal for the office they were elected to. Worse, all of the people surrounding them have proven to be completely spineless in trying to deal honestly with the Commander-in-Chief.
Both the Democrats and Republicans are guilty of this. I do not want to hear how the Republicans are the only culprits in this regards. An estimated 22 percent of the U.S. Congress is composed of members who are 70 years old and above. This is equally true of the Democrats and Republicans. In the private sector, NO ONE works full time or even part time past 65 years old. There is a reason for this. Older workers, as good and as experienced as they are, cannot entirely function at peak efficiency. And while there are an increasing number of elderly who might still make contributions to whatever business they are a part of, there is a limit to this. The U.S. Congress is the only example where people 70 and over do not seem to retire. There are two things that I find of concern to this. First, this shuts out younger and far more capable people who might be able to get into politics. Second, and worse, those who have remained in the U.S. Congress for years and even decades have a 95 percent chance of being reelected no matter how old they are. It speaks volumes about how incumbents are able to hold onto their office.
I do not know if this will change in my lifetime, but I feel that there should be a constitutional amendment that stipulates anyone age 65 or older should be ineligible for public office. The whole point of public office is public service. I find it scary that public office, especially on the federal level, has become more of a professional career where people can stay in for years and even decades. I am sure that the Founding Fathers of the constitutional system we live under never meant for this to happen. I do not think the Founding Fathers imagined that men and women so old would hold office for as much as a decade or even a generation. They stipulated that a person should be 35 in order to be considered more than mature enough to run a country. We now have people so old that some of them may be too senile to make crucial decisions that could change the destination of the country. In my case, however old I may be, I can still write with clarity. Maybe someday I will not be able to do so. But this is a far cry from running for and holding public office. This is something I will never even remotely consider. I know my limitations. I wish I can say the same thing for some of those who run our government now.
The Necessity for Age Limits for Public Office
By Daniel Nardini
Both the Democrats and Republicans are guilty of this. I do not want to hear how the Republicans are the only culprits in this regards. An estimated 22 percent of the U.S. Congress is composed of members who are 70 years old and above. This is equally true of the Democrats and Republicans. In the private sector, NO ONE works full time or even part time past 65 years old. There is a reason for this. Older workers, as good and as experienced as they are, cannot entirely function at peak efficiency. And while there are an increasing number of elderly who might still make contributions to whatever business they are a part of, there is a limit to this. The U.S. Congress is the only example where people 70 and over do not seem to retire. There are two things that I find of concern to this. First, this shuts out younger and far more capable people who might be able to get into politics. Second, and worse, those who have remained in the U.S. Congress for years and even decades have a 95 percent chance of being reelected no matter how old they are. It speaks volumes about how incumbents are able to hold onto their office.
I do not know if this will change in my lifetime, but I feel that there should be a constitutional amendment that stipulates anyone age 65 or older should be ineligible for public office. The whole point of public office is public service. I find it scary that public office, especially on the federal level, has become more of a professional career where people can stay in for years and even decades. I am sure that the Founding Fathers of the constitutional system we live under never meant for this to happen. I do not think the Founding Fathers imagined that men and women so old would hold office for as much as a decade or even a generation. They stipulated that a person should be 35 in order to be considered more than mature enough to run a country. We now have people so old that some of them may be too senile to make crucial decisions that could change the destination of the country. In my case, however old I may be, I can still write with clarity. Maybe someday I will not be able to do so. But this is a far cry from running for and holding public office. This is something I will never even remotely consider. I know my limitations. I wish I can say the same thing for some of those who run our government now.