2024: How old is too old?

Some statistical facts that may be worth a thought. Life expectancy for men in the US is currently around 74, down by a little over a year mostly due to Covid. Assuming Mr. Biden is in good health, and I have no reason to believe otherwise; statistics would suggest the likelihood of his completing another term of office are no better than 50/50. Of course, there are factors that can influence those odds. Quality of his health care, which I think we can assume is excellent. Some aspects of his lifestyle such as diet and exercise are probably good. On the other side, his stress level is probably poor as is his workload. But the simple and unhappy truth is that once a man or woman (women tend to live slightly longer than men) gets into their 80s you just can't make safe long-term predictions about their health. You can be in tip top health at 81 and either dead or in seriously poor health a couple of years down the road. Nor is this limited to Biden. Much the same could be said of Donald Trump (77), who has been famously secretive about his health.

Assuming both of these men are on the ballot next year, great care should be paid to their running mates. Coming back to statistics; you would have to go back to 1944 to find an election where the odds of the next president completing their elected term of office were worse.