In November, the Americans will have to choose the head of state from two old men who are engaged in criticizing each other’s health and mental state.
This is stated in an article by Ian Philbrick for The New York Times.
Whereas in the past the United States pointed out that aging leaders were one of the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union, now the American institution of the presidency also suffers from gerontocracy. Donald Trump, taking office, was already the oldest head of the White House in history. Now he wants to stay for one more term, but if he loses, Joe Biden will take his place. By that time, the Democrat will be 78 years old, and he will break the record of his predecessor.
Since 1950, the average age of heads of government in three dozen member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has been steadily declining, the article says. The OECD average national leader is now two decades younger than Trump and nearly a quarter century younger than Biden.
“American presidents have never been in step with other rich democracies before. In addition to the United States, Austria, Chile and Israel are also headed by men over 70. But no U.S. president has ever been as far off the OECD average as Mr Trump. If elected, Mr. Biden will further widen this chasm”, – the author emphasizes.
Moreover, in addition to the presidents in the United States, the rest of the political elite is also aging. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is 80 years old, Republican Majority Leader in the Senate Mitch McConnell is 78 years old. Nine judges of the Supreme Court are over 67 years old.
This can be explained by the fact that the post-war generations were much more interested in politics than the subsequent ones, the author claims. In addition, the American system looks at the resources with which a potential president comes to power.