Is America a county for old men?

Recently, former House Speaker Representative Nancy Pelosi (D‒California) had a successful hip replacement surgery after sustaining an injury during a trip to Luxembourg. The 84-year old  former Speaker is believed to be fully recovering from her surgery.  We wish her a speedy recovery.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tripped on December 10, 2024, spraining his wrist and sustaining “a minor cut to the face,” his office said in a statement. The incident is the latest in a high-profile string of health issues for the 82-year-old Kentucky Republican, who is stepping down from his Senate Leadership position in January.

President Joe Biden, who is also 82 years old, publicly displayed symptoms of cognitive and motor disability during his presidential debate with Donald J. Trump on June 27, 2024. Questions about Mr. Biden’s health, and specifically about Parkinson’s, have proliferated since his disastrous debate performance against Mr. Trump.

On July 8, Emily Baumgaertner and Peter Baker of the New York Times reported that a Parkinson’s expert had visited the White House eight times over the past eight months.[1] A White House spokesperson immediately denied that Biden suffered from the neurological disorder.

Following a carefully orchestrated campaign of pressure from Democratic Party leaders, led by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Biden reluctantly withdrew his candidacy for re-election on July 21.

Trump went on to defeat Vice-President Kamala Harris, who is 60 years of age, in the race for the White House. Trump is 78 years old.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer (D–New York) was re-elected to lead the Democratic caucus for the fifth time on December 3, 2024. Chuck Schumer, who is 74, was unanimously backed by his caucus, setting him up to become the Senate Minority Leader in the next U.S. Congress.

Schumer played a key role in negotiating the compromise Continuing Resolution with House Majority Leader Mike Johnson (R–Louisiana) the last time the Federal government faced the threat of a shut down in January 2024.

Mike Johnson, who is a relatively young 52, negotiated a new compromise deal with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, 54, to keep the Federal Government open until after Trump takes up the reins of the White House on January 20, 2025.

Trump torpedoed the deal yesterday, demanding it be stripped of add-ons to the Continuing Resolution which would have funded the government through March 14, 2025.  He was backed by Vice-president-elect J. D. Vance and, more importantly, by Elon Musk, who has emerged as a power broker within the incoming Administration. At 40 and 53 years of age, respectively, they arguably represent the next generation of leadership in the Republican Party.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R‒South Carolina), 69, said he would not vote for a “clean” Continuing Resolution if it did not contain funding for relief from Hurricane Helene, which devasted parts of south-eastern states in September and October 2024. Graham is the ranking Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.  

Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R‒South Dakota), 63, may have to sort out the impasse.

American Leadership Review tallied the ages of the ten American political leaders mentioned above and found that their average age is 67.8 years.  Trump exceeds this average by more than a decade.

America, it could reasonably be said, is less of a democracy than a gerontocracy.

A country for old men.

[1] Emily Baumgaertner and Peter Baker of the New York Times (July 8, 2024). Parkinson’s Expert Visited the White House Eight Times in Eight Months. www.nytimes.com/2024/07/08/us/politics/parkinsons-expert-white-house.html