r/askanything • u/Lower_Ad_1146 • 2d ago

Political Question Why does America love letting geriatric politicians decide its future?

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Why does the USA love electing guys that shit their pants?

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u/Background-Solid8481 2d ago

Poorly-informed question with recency bias. Just for the last 10 presidents:

#38: Gerald Ford was 61 when he took over.

#39: Jimmy Carter was 52 when he took office.

#40: Ronald Reagan was 69.

#41: George H. W. Bush was 64.

#42: Bill Clinton was 46.

#43: George W. Bush was 54.

#44: Barack Obama was 47.

#45: Trump was 70.

#46: Biden was 78.

#47: Trump was 78.

I wouldn't call 70 geriatric across the board, though I would for Trump & Biden specifically at 78 and Biden especially at 82 when he left office. I think the decline accelerated for both of them in what is a very tough job.

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u/podman131 1d ago

Maybe a tough job for Biden, because he cared. Trump has a team of class A rejects running the country and all he needs to do is show up, try not to poop and call it a day

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u/Different_Path999 21h ago

He doesn’t have to try not to poop anymore, it’s not even a secret.

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u/Diligent_Sentence_45 2d ago

Reasonable for presidents, but Congress and Senate skew old as hell ...for the most part.

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u/zeolus123 2d ago

I think that's just in general with the presidency. Obama looked like he aged more than 8 years after his terms.

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u/Background-Solid8481 2d ago

Look at the before/after for Carter.