How old is too old to run for president?
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When President Joe Biden was sworn in to be the 46th president in January 2021, he was 78 years old and immediately became the oldest U.S. president ever — at the start of his first term.
For context, President Ronald Reagan, who was questioned about his age regularly, was 69 years old when he was first sworn in as president in 1981, and 77 when he left office in 1989.
In second place for the oldest president at the start of his first term is Donald Trump, who was 70 years old at his inauguration in 2017.
Now, in the run-up to the 2024 election, a rematch between the two oldest men to assume the office of the presidency is looking likely.
But is that what voters want?
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A new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll of Utah voters shows almost two-thirds of them want an age limit for presidential candidates, although they disagree about how old is too old.
Among those who want an age limit, 48% said 70 years old or younger, while 15% would put the limit at age 60. Another 22% said 80 years old, while 2% said age 90, and 13% chose “other.”
The poll was conducted by Dan Jones & Associates from Sept. 24-29, included responses from 802 registered voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.23 percentage points.
The younger the Utah voter, the more likely they were to say there should be an age limit. Among voters age 18-24, 79% said there should be a maximum age, while only 53% of voters older than age 57 agreed.
Seventy-years-old was the top choice for an age limit across all age groups, political parties and for both men and women. That limit would keep both Trump and Biden out of the race.
Jason Perry, director of the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics, told the Deseret News voters are taking a look at candidates and lawmakers across the political spectrum and are raising questions about their capacity.
“We’ve had discussions on both sides of the aisle, whether it be about Donald Trump or Joe Biden or Nancy Pelosi or Mitch McConnell — there is a growing number of people who are talking about whether or not there should be some maximum age limit,” he said. “And it’s very clear Utahns by and large think that there should be some sort of limit.”
He said voters are likely looking at “very prominent examples” among current lawmakers as they raise these questions.
In recent months, Biden has had some very public falls, and he also seems to struggle speaking clearly at times. A Wall Street Journal poll shows 73% of Americans think he is too old to run for office again, while only 47% said the same about Trump, who is only 3 years younger.
But some of Trump’s opponents have raised concerns about his age. Early in her campaign, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who was also an ambassador to the U.N., said candidates and lawmakers over 75 years old should have to take a mandatory mental competency test, which would affect both Trump and Biden.
Haley, who is 51, has also said a vote for Biden is a vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, as she claims Biden will likely not be able to finish out his second term.
Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told CBS News the age of Trump and Biden is “absolutely a legitimate concern.”
“The presidency is not a job for someone that’s 80 years old,” DeSantis said. “And there’s nothing, you know, wrong with being 80. Obviously I’m the governor of Florida. I know a lot of people who are elderly. They’re great people. But you’re talking about a job where you need to give it 100%. We need an energetic president.”
Biden and Trump may look to Reagan when responding to questions about their age. At a debate with Democratic candidate Walter Mondale in 1984, Reagan, who was 73 at the time, was asked by the debate moderator whether he was too old to be in office.
Reagan responded with one of his most famous quips: “I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”
Contributing: Samuel Benson
