Donald Trump and Joe Biden, popular candidates for the 2024 presidential election, are both well above the average age for retirement in America. This concerns many Americans, with many questions about their health and agility, considering their ages. The functionality of the brain and physical ability have both been proven to deplete with age, proving that these candidates are no longer fit to serve in our government.
The prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain, has the most age-related volume loss, with approximately five percent per decade, according to a Sept. 14 BBC article. This region’s connections to other parts of the brain help manage executive functions like problem-solving, ambition and impulse control. As politicians age, they lose crucial functions of the brain that will negatively affect the decisions they make for the public.
Besides the brain, physical health is very important to be heavily involved in government, especially because of the high levels of stress. Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein and Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel are perfect examples of the negative impacts of age. McConnel has had two freeze-ups in the past 2 months. These come from his many falls, which led to a concussion that sidelined him for weeks. It has been proven that people of older ages are at a much higher risk of severe damage from falling than younger people, proving that their health is in greater danger.
In addition to this, 24 hours after McConnell froze in the middle of a news conference, deceased California Senator Feinstein appeared confused during a committee hearing. These mishaps are most likely associated with executive function decline which gradually increases with age. Democrat Feinstein, a 90-year-old woman, has shown a significant decrease in health since being diagnosed with shingles. She had suffered from poor health and memory difficulties but was still not willing to step down, according to a New York Times article. Her recent passing while in office is unfair to the public, considering her stubbornness has caused chaos when she clearly knew of her age and health concerns.
As a result of these cases, concerns from Americans about the age of the leaders in power have increased. Our Government needs to be able to make critical decisions in high-pressure situations, and the cognitive flexibility dwindling over time threatens this.
We have a minimum age to become president. Why not a maximum age?
As a society, age is highly valued with having more experience and knowledge. But is this enough? A president making a wrong decision can lead to a global disaster. Presidents have extremely stressful jobs that the elderly can not handle. The United States needs change.
Photo Credit: “Government” by Thomas Hawk is licensed under (CC BY-NC 4.0 Deed)
