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In these politically polarized times it is hard to find issues that all political parties agree on. However, there is one issue that a vast majority of Americans agree should be dealt with: age in politics. The US has a minimum age limit for most political offices in the country, but not a maximum. It is too common to see elderly people taking charge of the nation’s issues. How can these people represent an American society that, by the minute, gets younger and younger? Of all the 535 offices in the US Congress, only one person is a member of Generation Z. On the other hand, there are 14 congressmen above the age of 80. America is getting younger, and congress is remaining old. It’s time for a new generation of leaders.

As the nation prepares for the 2024 US presidential election, where a possible rematch between 81-year-old President Biden and 77-year-old former President Trump may occur, many Americans voice their discontent of having our country run by a group that doesn’t represent the people.

According to a poll taken in 2023, 79% of Americans believe that there should be age limits on federal politicians. How can someone of advanced age truly care about the impact their vote has on future generations if they won’t even be around to see the results?

Some in power have been opponents of such ideas, saying that this suggestion is discriminatory toward the elderly. While an understandable counterpoint, this argument doesn’t address the issue of when those in power become too attached to it and often act as if they own their political office, rather than it belonging to the people. 

With age, often comes old fashioned ideas about the world and what is socially and morally acceptable. While yes, people can change, it is hard to see how the elderly can truly represent a diverse and continually growing younger population of Americans. For example, President Biden highly regarded former Senator Storm Thurmond (R-SC), a United States Senator who served from 1956-2003, during one of his speeches. Although Thurmond was known for speaking “against the Civil Rights Act of 1957…” in his earlier years, Biden then said that he believed Thurmond had changed later on. It is hard to understand why one would eulogize a man who spent most of his career fighting against equal representation of all Americans, even if he had changed later. 

Being able to effectively represent your constituents due to old fashioned ideas that come with age is also shown in the words and actions of Senator Charles “Chuck” Grassley (R-IA), a member of the senate since 1981. He has quite recently at the age of 90, become the oldest US Senator after the death of 90-year-old Diane Feinstein (D-CA). Grassley, in 2023 became the last serving US Senator and one of the last living congressmen to have voted against making Martin Luther King Jr. Day a holiday.  

“Senator Grassley’s vote against an MLK Day holiday was purely an economic decision both in the cost to the broader economy in lost productivity, and the cost to the taxpayers with the federal government closed,” said an aide of Grassely.

One fact of life is that as we get older we start to lose abilities we take for granted in younger years. Serving prolonged time in office and old age affects important qualities needed in politics such as memory and physical activity. Having an age limit will avoid concerns in cognitive abilities and overall health. “Approximately two out of three Americans experience some level of cognitive impairment at an average age of approximately 70 years.” While this number is approximate, it should be worrisome that many of the most powerful leaders in our country are older than that by almost a decade or more. 

Mentioned earlier was the late Senator Feinstein. She is a very good example of the cognitive decline of our leaders. Prior to her passing, she had been missing from the Senate for multiple weeks due to health related issues. She also seemed confused, as seen in a widely circulated video in which a fellow senator tells her to “Just say aye.” In another instance, 81-year-old Minority Leader of the United States Senate Mitch McConnell (R-KY), froze not once but twice while being interviewed by members of the press. These incidents were just brushed off as McConnell being lightheaded and dehydrated.

Another point often brought up during the discussion of older politicians is the experience that comes with being in politics. Although this is a valid point to make, experience is a double-edged sword and possibly dangerous when it comes to accurately representing the people.

Experience in office is admittedly a good thing, but it can also cement one in their ways, making it difficult to see the other point of view and, for that matter, to compromise. This is especially true if you have been a politician for decades. Also, when one goes to congress, it is unlikely that they go with intentions of serving corporations and donors, but all too often that is what happens. 

An example of this involves former Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe, who served from 1994-2023. Inhofe was famous for being a prominent climate change denier during his time in the senate and still, during his term as Mayor of Tulsa, was a “big proponent of renewable energy sources like wind and solar…” As seen with Inhofe, the longer one is in Washington, the more susceptible to corruption they become. By setting a maximum age this will most likely start to decrease and it would be less likely for someone to serve decades until they die in office.