Too old to lead?

When US President Joe Biden, aged 80, announced his reelection bid in April 2023, he met with a barrage of condemnation. Voters and pundits on all sides called him too old to run, claiming to be concerned about his physical health and stamina, and the possibility of cognitive decline. Are their concerns justified? How much does age matter in a political leader?

It’s interesting that age seems to be the only criterion we want to apply to political leaders. Isn’t that strange? Think of the jobs you’ve had, the qualifications you had to painstakingly earn and live up to. Yet for a job as important and powerful as that of running a city, province or country, we require practically no qualifications at all, apart from citizenship and a clean criminal record. We would certainly never choose our doctors and lawyers and accountants this way.

If we wanted to require some basic qualifications for our political leaders, what would they be? Should we expect a minimum level of education, some training or experience in public administration, a basic understanding of how our government works, what a democracy is, what basic rights and obligations exist between the governors and the governed? On that basis, many leaders wouldn’t get through the door. But maybe they don’t need these skills as long as they surround themselves with smart, knowledgeable advisors. In any case, the most important traits in a successful leader seem to be about character: a strong moral sense; support for the common good; lack of bias; willingness to listen and learn, change and adapt; ability to build consensus and rally support; good communication skills; empathy; vision; integrity. There aren’t any objective tests for all those things. But there is no reason to suppose that old leaders would be lacking such traits any more than young ones. These qualities take time to build, so we could even argue that older people would make better leaders.

The problem with requiring minimum standards for political leaders is that it could be said to undermine democracy, as it would deprive most people of the right to contest elections. So if we want to support democracy, we accept the risk of rule by the ignorant, the powermongers and the charlatans. There’s certainly no shortage of those folks, both young and old.

If you’d like to close that democratic loophole, there are plenty of qualifications to choose from. Take your time and think about which ones you would require, and how you would apply them. Just don’t be too quick to play the age card.