After the 2020 presidential election was finalized, Joe Biden had become the oldest president we’ve ever had. Though, if Donald Trump had ended up winning the 2020 election instead, he would have also usurped the role of oldest president ever. The previous oldest president before Biden was Ronald Regan, who at the end of his terms was 77 years old. As time goes by, there seems to be a trend reoccurring in the presidential elections; each time we elect a president, we seem to be picking older and older men. Take some of our most recent presidents, like Bill Clinton, who was elected at age 46. Then we have George W. Bush, elected at age 54. It went back down to age 46 with Obama, but then skyrocketed back up to age 69 with Donald Trump’s election. Then finally, we have the oldest president to date, Joe Biden, elected at age 78, currently 80.

The U.S. seems to be one of only countries embracing older leaders at the moment. While we keep electing men in their 80s, other countries like Canada seem to be electing people below the average retirement age in their 40’s, about half of our current president’s age. Gerontocracy is what a state, country or group run by old people is called, and although it doesn’t seem too awful for the U.S. right now, it can lead to a great recession. Many older leaders, not just in the U.S. but in other countries, too, have contributed to many intervals of stagnation for their groups, resulting in zero growth for long periods of time all too frequently. 

Older leaders being elected isn’t exactly awful for us now, but if we get any older than 80? There could possibly be problems. On the Thanksgiving Macy’s Day Parade, NBC always calls the president before the parade starts. This year, they called Joe Biden, and it went embarrassingly bad. On Thursday morning, November 24th, 2022, when they called the president, he struggled terribly with the call like he had never used modern technology in his life, followed by an awkward moment of silence. After the moment passed, everything continued as usual, but the bit still left an awkward, embarrassing moment behind.

30 students were asked, “Do you think there should be a maximum age for presidency?” 23 said yes while 7 said no. Students that said “Yes” were asked one more question, “What do you think the maximum age should be?” Most students believe that 65 should be the age cap, 50, and even going as low as their 30’s. One student said, “No one above their 70s should be working such an important job. Most people are retired by then.” Another student said, “I think the old white guy leaders are getting us nowhere as a country.” As you can see, most students anonymously agree, poll or interview, that there should be an age cap and change in our presidents that are being elected. Though, some students still believe in our old leaders.