Biden not the first president to deal with age concerns
President Joe Biden’s age has grown into a major issue for Americans, with majorities of voters in multiple polls saying that at 81, he’s too old to serve another term.
But, while he’s the oldest-ever president, he’s far from the first to face age-related worries. In fact, U.S. leaders going all the way back to the Founding Fathers have grappled both privately and publicly with concerns about their mortality, according to historians.
“Age has been an issue for presidents almost from the beginning,” Lindsay Chervinsky, a senior fellow at the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, told Mcclatchy News in an email.
Early presidents
When he was first inaugurated in 1789, George Washington was 57 years old, which by today’s standards puts him squarely in middle age. But at the time, life expectancy for upper-class men was somewhere between 45 and 55, making him long in the tooth by comparison.
Additionally, Washington’s male relatives died early, leading him to believe he was in his twilight years by the time he assumed the presidency, Chervinsky said.
“He talks about this in some of his correspondence, in fact he dwells on it morbidly … and constantly feared his own death,” Thomas Balcerski, a presidential historian at Eastern Connecticut State University, told Mcclatchy News.
To combat his apparent genetic bad luck and the era’s forbiddingly short life expectancy, Washington — much like Biden — took up healthy habits, like exercising and eschewing tobacco and heavy drinking, according to Mount Vernon records.
But worries about his age and poor health ultimately became widespread, and during the beginning of his first term, the public feared he would die, leaving the nation in a state of dysfunction, Chervinsky said.
Andrew Jackson, the country’s seventh president, was 61 when he took office, making him old by the standards of the time, Balcerski said, adding that, by his second term, he became the oldest-ever president.
The former general was viewed by the public as advanced in age, Chervinsky said, adding that “discussions of his health were a constant topic of conversation.”
However, despite existing concerns, age didn’t play a prominent role in the country’s early elections, Balcerski said.
In fact, voters often elected candidates in the final decade of their lives, “largely because health and medicine was so unpredictable until the 20th century, that illness wasn’t considered as much of an impediment against a candidate,” Chervinsky said. “It was just part of life.”
Modern presidents
But as the role of the president expanded in the 20th century, and following Woodrow Wilson’s stroke in 1919 — which rendered him unable to govern — the president’s age began to take on more importance, Chervinsky said.
Additionally, as the advent of television gave the public greater access to leaders, it became seen as necessary for presidents to demonstrate their vigor in the face of age-related concerns, Balcerski said.
“Since then, presidents have worked hard to cultivate an image of strength and vitality,” Chervinsky said.
But, despite carefully protecting their public image, some modern presidents have still been dogged by questions about their age, some posing the questions of themselves.
Dwight Eisenhower, for example, after having a heart attack during his first term in office, began to contemplate whether he was too old to run for a second term.
“We all know that when advancing years and diminishing energy begin to take their toll, the last one that ever appreciates such a situation is the victim himself,” Eisenhower wrote in a letter to a childhood friend in 1956, according to The New Yorker.
Ronald Reagan, though, faced much more public scrutiny over his age — in a way that most parallels current concerns about Biden, Balcerski said.
During his reelection campaign in 1984, Reagan was in his early 70s, making him the oldest-ever president at the time.
But, during a debate against Walter Mondale, he famously helped put the issue to rest by quipping “I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”
Biden
Biden now seems to be taking a page from Reagan, making light of his age — and highlighting his experience — to help diffuse concerns, Balcerski said.
“Look, I’m not a young guy; that’s no secret,” Biden said in a recently released campaign advertisement. “But here’s the deal, I understand how to get things done for the American people.”
“It’s interesting, he’s sort of smiling at the problem,” Balcerski said, noting that it remains to be seen whether this strategy will play well with the public.
It’s also not clear whether age will remain a factor in the race given that former President Donald Trump — who is all but assured to win the GOP nomination — also faces widespread concerns over his age at 77.
While Biden’s age is more worrisome to voters, a majority also believe Trump is too old to serve another term, according to a February Ipsos poll.