Too Old to be a Representative, Senator, or President

Is it really in America’s best interest to have eighty-year-old lawmakers?  How about having a president born to headlines such as ‘Marines Gain Ground to East on Guadalcanal’ and ‘MacArthur’s Airmen Hit Jap Transport’? When is someone too old to be a representative, senator, or president?

The U.S. Constitution requires certain ages to have been attained before a person can be a representative, senator, or president. Article I Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution states:

No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

Article I Section 3 states:

No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

Article II, Section 1 states:

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.

These minimum age requirements, twenty-five to be a Representative, thirty to be a Senator, and thirty-five to be President, disqualify some otherwise qualified citizens from running for a seat in the House, Senate, or White House. However, there is an assumed capacity and maturity associated with certain ages. The age of a person is seen as a benchmark that generalizes certain abilities.

The minimum age requirement to obtain a driver’s license, or purchase alcoholic beverages are common examples. There are fourteen-year-olds who have more maturity and seriousness than many adult drivers. Yet due to their age, the fourteen-year-old cannot legally operate a motor vehicle. There are millions of eighteen-year-olds who have the capacity to consume alcoholic beverages responsibly, but are forbidden by law to do so while millions of adults should probably not consume another drop. Minimum age requirements are arbitrary and Americans accept them as such. The majority of citizens think these age restrictions are precautionary and prudent.   

There are some government-regulated jobs that require retirement by a certain age. Air Traffic Controllers are forced into early retirement at age fifty-six. Federal law requires pilots to retire at age sixty-five. Foreign Service federal employees, also referred to as diplomats, have a mandatory retirement at age sixty-five. The age-related benchmarks for forced retirement are as arbitrary as the minimum age requirements.

Are there Air Traffic Controllers who could have maintained their job performance into their seventies? I’m certain of it. The same is true for some pilots and diplomats too. However, due to the pressures associated with these positions, and the importance of mental clarity and the ability to make quick, sound decisions, these maximum age requirements have been established and accepted as a best practice. Why?

For millions and millions of people, as they get older, their mind begins to fade. Some more than others, but most people begin to lose their mental edge the older they get. Every reasonable person knows this to be true. Then there are people who suffer far greater memory loss. According to the 2022 Alzheimer’s Association Report[1], 10.7% of people sixty-five or older were living with Alzheimer’s disease. Over 6.5 million Americans were exhibiting the symptoms of dementia and were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. That’s slightly more than one in ten Americans.

How many Congresswomen and Congressmen have dementia? How many Senators have Alzheimer’s disease? How many Presidents has the United States had who were making critical decisions with a diseased mind? How about the current President, Joe Biden? His forgetfulness is on display everyday for the world to see. He denies he has any problem with his memory and his supporters back him up. He is eighty-one years old. Of course, he has some memory loss. But how much is too much when the weight of the nation and even the free world is on your shoulders?

There is a selfishness associated with Representatives and Senators who stay in office until they die. They keep Congress stagnant. Usually, they get a grip on a leadership position and don’t let go. Newer, younger members of Congress who could bring a freshness to the House and Senate leadership, and possibly reduce the divisiveness that drives their single digit approval rating, are denied a chance to lead. Instead, they sit on the sidelines taking orders from men and women who likely will no longer be alive to endure the unintended consequences of their legislative actions.

I have been voting for forty-two years. For forty-two years I have heard politicians claim they support term limits. Let the forty-two-year record show that term limits will never be passed by people who do not want to let go of power and have convinced themselves that nobody could possibly take their place. It’s an ego disease. The change the nation needs is an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Here is what I suggest:  

Twenty-Eighth Amendment

No person, having attained the age of seventy-two, shall be elected or appointed to serve as a Representative, Senator, Vice-President, or President of the United States.

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[1] Alzheimer’s Association Report, 2022 Alzheimer’s disease facts and figures, March 14, 2022, https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/alz.12638 , Accessed 2/16/2022