After all, Joe Biden’s biggest enemy in his efforts to extend his time in the White House has not been the laughing stock of Donald Trump, the Republican Party, or Elon Musk. His biggest scourge has been much more unstoppable (and relentless): Time. And his pulse has doubled. After months of “escaping,” more or less covert pressure, and missteps that have tarnished his public image, Biden has finally taken a step back. He will not choose to reiterate his position. The reason is that he is now almost 82 years old, and after a merry-go-round of increasingly loud mistakes, doubts about his fitness as a Democratic candidate have left him out of the presidential race.

But his case leaves one thorny question that has grown stronger over the past few months and is likely to remain on the table after his departure: maximum age limit to apply for positions like yours?

We already knew that the 2024 US presidential election would be abnormal and eventful, and this became clear a week ago when Thomas M. Crooks climbed onto the roof to shoot Trump. Now we can add another adjective to the election: uncertainSurprisingly, Biden tweeted a short but clear letter yesterday explaining his decision to step back and not lead the Democratic bid for the White House.

“The best for the country”

“Being your president has been the greatest honor of my life. While my goal is to be re-elected, I believe it is best for my party and my country to step down and focus on fulfilling my obligations,” he said, before publicly announcing his support for Kamala Harris, who has served as vice president for many years and is currently best positioned to lead the Democratic nomination in the fight against Trump.

Biden’s announcement comes after he has actively and passively insisted, sometimes with undisguised anger, that he is determined to run in November, but it’s not really a surprise. The Democrat tweeted yesterday, giving in to the voices that have questioned his suitability as a candidate in recent months based on a single piece of information: his age, 81. Almost 82.

The focus is of course not on the 81 years themselves, Biden’s 81st BirthdayThe Democrat, who has made slips and serious mistakes in recent weeks, such as introducing Zelensky as “President Putin” or forgetting the name of the Minister of Defense, has reached that age with such health and clarity.

But his greatest sin was appearing hesitant, even confused at times, during a televised debate with Trump in late June, an attitude the Republican was not shy about using to his advantage: “He doesn’t even know what he’s doing,” he said, “he’s come to attack him completely.” busy timeBiden had his bad night, but the damage was already done: Rumors of his supposed weakness, already circulating before the debate, intensified. And some, both inside and outside the party, have called for a backpedal from very powerful benches. New York Times.

What happened to Biden, the voices questioning his fitness for office, the discussions around his health condition… Are these elements of a specific debate, limited only to his figure, or is there also a debate in the United States? Is it broad in terms of age and public office? That’s the million-dollar question. and that is being followed carefully from an aging West and a declining birth rate. There are two important pieces of information to answer this question.

First, age has always carried a lot of weight in presidential debates, at least until now. And that makes sense. The two candidates entering the debate are nearly 160 years old: Biden is 81; but Trump just turned 78, and both stand out in the age bracket of U.S. presidential history. Since the distant days of George Washington, only Ronald Reagan, who left office at 77, comes close.

Evidence of the extent to which this situation has marked the fight is provided by a February report in which prosecutor Robert Hurt described Biden’s age as “well-intentioned and indifferent“.

What the polls say

Economist and YouGov has been conducting surveys on the percentage of Americans who believe Biden’s health and age would “severely limit” his ability to serve as president if he is re-elected in November, and the data is telling: 61% admit to having this concern. A year ago, 57% of those polled were concerned about how age and health would affect the Democrat if he were re-elected. Among like-minded voters, that number was 25%, but after the last debate with Trump, that number jumped to 30%.

That’s not the only percentage that shows how much health (and longevity) are present factors among American voters. ABC News cites other polls that show 56 percent of Americans say Joe Biden’s age is an issue, or 77 percent see the Democrat as “problematic.”too old effectively serving another four-year term.

Without going into details, the American media assure that a “significant part” of those surveyed also consider Trump too old. However, their percentage will be “significantly” lower than Biden’s. There is only a few years difference between the two candidates.

Biden’s 81 years are not the only key figure in the debate. There are two more events that are even more important because they show how much the age of leaders has fallen into the public consciousness. In October 2023, the Pew Research Center published a report that guaranteed that a large percentage of the US population did not have a negative opinion of the application. an age limit To those in certain positions.

More specifically, 82% of Republicans and 76% of Democrats support a maximum age limit for elected federal officials. This would not just apply to leaders. 68% and 82%, respectively, favor extending the same rights to justices serving on the Supreme Court.

What ages are considered optimal? There are no clear answers. Pew Research estimates that 49 percent of Americans believe they are around 50, and 24 percent put the range slightly higher, around 60.

It’s not the only Pew Research report on the subject. CBS News previously reported on a poll in September 2022 that came to essentially the same conclusion: “A large majority supports maximum age limits for elected officials.” Specifically, 72% of respondents were positive, while 27% were negative. The restrictions would also be popular across all age groups. 75% of those ages 30 to 64 are in favor; but 74% of those over 65 also support them.

While Trump and Biden’s ages have reignited the debate, concerns about the health of elected officials are not new. In 1919, then-President Woodrow Wilson, aged 63, suffered a stroke that “severely impaired” his abilities. He relied on his staff and his wife, Edith Wilson, to carry out his duties.

The question of whether age limits should be imposed in certain public spaces was raised months ago by Democratic Congresswoman Katie Porter, who is at the center of a debate with candidates to take the Senate seat recently vacated by Dianne Feinstein. At the age of 90, she openly admitted: “This is a conversation we should have all elected officials.

Limits yes, but below

But… what does the law say? There are age limits for holding certain positions, though only at a basic level. “The Constitution sets minimum, but not maximum, age thresholds for the presidents and members of the Senate and House of Representatives. The minimum age is 35 for presidents, 30 for senators, and 25 for representatives,” the Pew Research Center recalls.

While the idea of ​​setting maximum age limits has more or less social support, the organization acknowledges that implementing them will not be easy. And not just because of political leanings. “It would probably require an amendment to the Constitution, and those would require a two-thirds vote in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and then ratification by three-fourths of the states.”

Of course there is debate not comfortablenor is it simple. If the age limit for running for president of the United States were to be opened, as it has been in other areas such as driving or holding certain religious positions in the Church, many other thorny questions would arise: Why is there a minimum limit of 35 years and not a maximum? Does age always determine a candidate’s health and sanity?

Is there a risk of falling into ageism? What about talentism? If the limit is applied… Will the most senior and experienced segment of the population be abandoned? And these questions… At what age will I get better, how is the decision made?

Experts like geriatrician Bradley Willcox have already warned that “chronological age” is not the same as age. “biological age” and not everyone is the same age. With this idea in mind, the risk of setting an arbitrary limit becomes even worse.

“This completely invalidates the truth [entre la edad biológica y edad cronológica] because biologically you can be 20 or 25 years younger. “So are we going to set the limit by calendar or biological age?” asks Willcox. The subject is already a subject of study among academics, but there are those who go further and warn about who can set the age limits and who can do it. Candidates cannot run because it would affect the “democratic nature” of the United States.

One thing is clear: Biden has backed down, but the debate that began in the US around the candidates’ age will continue on stage.

Pictures | Gage Skidmore (Flickr) and Gage Skidmore (Flickr)

In Xataka | “He was supposed to be dead”: The accumulation of coincidences that saved Donald Trump’s life in the attack