As has frequently been noted, the leadership of our country in the presidency, in Congress, and at the Supreme Court has become much older in recent years. This is a cause for concern. Various constitutional reforms might be adopted to address this trend.
In this post, I begin with the simplest reform – one that I believe would receive quick and strong approval if proposed at present. The Constitution should provide that no person should serve as President or Vice President if they were 70 years of age or over at the time of their election. The provision should not become effective until after the 2028 election.
I initially started with the view that no one should serve as President after the age of 75. But that would allow someone to be elected at say 72 years of age and then have to step down when they turned 75. Disrupting a presidential term is undesirable. It is better to prevent the person from starting their term. While preventing people from serving after 75 would be accomplished by requiring that they start their term before turning 71, it is better to have a round number, so 70 years old became the cutoff.
Someone might object that plenty of people are entirely competent at the age of 70 and should not be barred. It is certainly true that many people could perform well as President at 70 or 75. But some of these people might be fine when elected but decline over time. Even if some people would perform well throughout their entire presidency, the costs of losing out on these people are outweighed by the benefits of blocking those who suffer from age-related decline.
Another possible objection is that medical tests could be used to filter out persons from serving rather than imposing an absolute bar. But while additional medical testing might be helpful under our existing system, the problems of administering such tests objectively prevent them from being an adequate substitute.
Thus, I propose a constitutional amendment that prohibits anyone from serving as President or Vice President who is 70 years of age at the time of their election.
Posted at 8:00 AM