Voters react to first 2024 presidential debate
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump faced off in Atlanta for the first presidential debate ahead of the 2024 election.
To run for president a candidate must be at least 35 years old. But there’s no upper age limit for the U.S. presidency. With the two oldest candidates in history running in this year’s presidential election, some are asking how old is too old to be the leader of the richest and most powerful country in the world.
President Joe Biden in particular, at 81, has faced questions about his age and fitness for the role which if elected, would have him ending his second term at age 86. A special counsel report released in February described Biden as an “elderly man with a poor memory” who suffers from lapses in attention.
Biden’s debate performance, in which he spoke with a quiet, raspy voice at the start of the debate and at times seemed to struggle to provide clear and coherent answers, only served to intensify those questions.
But former president Donald Trump, at 78, is only three years younger than Biden.
The average retirement age in the U.S. is 65 for men and 63 for women, according to Census Bureau data. Most professions do not have a mandatory retirement age and federal law protects workers against age discrimination.
The jobs that do have a mandatory retirement are generally occupations that are part of the government, like military or police officers, or professions that are deemed physically or mentally strenuous, like airline pilots, who must retire when they reach 65 years old, and air traffic controllers who are required to retire at 56, with some exceptions made up to age 61.
Federal law enforcement officers, national park rangers and firefighters must retire at 57, but that age can be raised if the worker has less than 20 years of service.
Members of the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System are mandated to retire at 65. Many states have set required retirement ages for judges, including New Jersey, where state Supreme Court justices must retire at age 70.
Other elected officials have served well past Biden or Trump’s age. New Jersey Rep. Bill Pascrell is 87 and won the 9th Congressional District Democratic primary for a 15th term by a 54-point margin earlier this month; Rep. Hal Rogers of Kentucky is 86, and Maxine Waters of California is 85.
In the Senate, Charles Grassley of Iowa is the oldest member at 90. Before her death in in September 2023 at age 90, Dianne Feinstein of California was the oldest senator and had repeatedly faced questions about her age and reports of diminished capabilities during her last years in office.
A Pew Research Center survey last year found 79% of Americans support maximum age limits for elected officials in Washington, D.C. The survey found 74% of respondents favored age limits for Supreme Court justices.
But some see calls for forced retirement based on age as discriminatory, and somewhat arbitrary — one person’s abilities at age 80 are different than another’s. An older politician also often has the benefit of years of experience to guide their decision making.
Creating maximum age limits for elected officials in Washington would likely require a Constitutional amendment and presidents are already limited by four-year term limits.
But the conversation around politicians’ age will likely only intensify as the November election nears.
