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Too old to be president?

John Fea   |  September 9, 2023

Margaret Sullivan, The Guardian, April 15, 2023

Is Joe Biden too old to serve another term as president? Everyone seems to be talking about this as the 2024 election approaches. But did you know that debates over presidential age are not new? Readers of a certain age will remember the debate over Ronald Reagan’s age in 1980 and 1984, but these conversations run even deeper into the American past.

For example:

Grover Cleveland (1904):

Norton (KS) Courier, July 30, 1903

1924:

Bellingham (WA) Herald, May 16, 1924

1928:

The Muncie (IN) Star Press, August 13, 1927

John Garner (1940):

The Buffalo Press, September 20, 1939

Arben Barkley (1952):

The Durham Herald-Sun, May 31, 1952

Averell Harriman (1956):

Poplar Bluff (MO) , October 10, 1955

Ronald Reagan (1980):

The Ithaca Journal, June 11, 1980

Bob Dole (1996):

York Sunday News (PA), August 13, 1995

Filed Under: Way of Improvement Tagged With: Joe Biden, presidential age, presidential elections, presidential history