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Unless we are young, old age will wait for us all, even our president. Inevitably, the older we are, the greater the chances of deterioration in physical and mental health.
However, although the constitution says the president must be at least 35 years old, there is no limit on age. This is a dangerous oversight that should be corrected through a constitutional amendment, which has a maximum age of 75, allowing a person to be sworn in as president.
This will ensure that no one over 80 will lead our country again.
A study supported by the National Institutes of Health estimates that about 24% of Americans suffer from dementia, ranging from mild to severe, with about 18% of them suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. NIH describes Alzheimer’s as “a brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and ultimately has the ability to perform the simplest tasks.” Even in the early days, this is not what we want in the president.
Several books have been published claiming former President Joe Biden is too mentally to lead our country – Biden strongly denies it. Journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, the book that has received the most news coverage is “The Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Disastrous Choice to Cover and Run Again”.
We just learned that Biden, 82, has been diagnosed with an aggressive, incurable but treatable prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. Although some men survived 10 years or more, only 37% of the chances of men with diagnosis will survive within five years, according to the American Cancer Society.
I think Biden is an excellent president who has done a lot of work for the American people. I voted for him in 2020, and I supported his reelection until he ended the campaign after a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump. I hope he is one of the long-term prostate cancer survivors.
But we have to face the reality that if he is re-elected, Biden will have to deal with cancer treatment during the presidency and may have to wait until the end of his term.
President Trump, 78, will be 82 by the end of 2029. Despite repeated claims that Biden suffers from dementia, Trump insists that he is mentally keen. However, more than 230 psychiatrists and other mental health professionals signed a letter in the New York Times in October 2024, saying Trump was “very unsuitable for leadership” because among other things, he “appeared to show signs of cognitive decline.” A book published in 2017, titled “Dangerous Cases of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess the President” believes that Trump is mentally ill and poses a danger to our country.
Ideally, someone physically or mentally incapable of performing their presidency will not run away or resign. But the president works hard to get to his position and they and their employees don’t want to give up.
Although the 25th Amendment allows the vice president and cabinet or Congress-approved agencies to be removed from office, it has never been cited. It may only be used in extreme cases, such as the president being in a coma.
Setting age restrictions for future presidents through constitutional amendments should not be a partisan issue. It applies to future Democratic, Republican and third-party candidates.
The founders of the United States deliberately made the process of amending the constitution difficult. The constitutional amendment must first be approved in a two-thirds majority vote of the two Capitols. Then, the amendment must be approved in three-quarters of the legislatures (or 38 out of 50) in each state before it can take effect. The Constitution has been amended only 27 times.
The president’s age limit is unlikely to play a role often. No other president next to Biden and Trump is in office at age 76 or older. The other oldest presidents left the office at Dwight Eisenhower, 70, and Ronald Reagan, at 77.
Eisenhower suffered a severe heart attack in his office in 1955 but was recovered in 1956. Reagan was diagnosed with dementia in 1994 by Alzheimer’s. There is still debate about whether he began to deteriorate mentally when he was still in the White House.
The average age of the US president when he first took office was 57 years old. Bad things happen to people of every age, but for young and middle-aged people, it is less frequent than older people.
Even only 9% of Americans aged 75 and older are employed. Although the vast majority of jobs should be open to qualified Americans, the presidency itself falls into a category regardless of age. Looking ahead, our highest position has an age cut-off age of 75, which is in our national interest. Believe otherwise on the boundaries of absurdity.
A. Scott Bolden is a lawyer, journalist contributor and former chairman of the Democratic Party in Washington, D.C.