When was last time a Democrat over 55 was elected?

[evertonfc]

[left-of-center2012]

2. LBJ was 56 in 1964

Lyndon Baines Johnson was born August 27, 1908.

1964
- 1908
_______
56

[4139]

3. Interesting point, 56 years ago, 13 elections ago

[hlthe2b]

4. MOST Presidents were older than 55. I'm answering globally because I think it matters.

These Presidents were all 55 or older at the beginning of Presidency
George Washington 57
John Adams 61
Thomas Jefferson 57
James Madison 57
James Monroe 57
John Quincy Adams 57
Andrew Jackson 61
William Henry Harrison 68
Zachary Taylor 64
James Buchanan 65
Andrew Johnson 56
Benjamin Harrison 55
Grover Cleveland 55
Warren Harding 55
Harry Truman 60
Dwight Eisenhower 62
Lyndon Johnson 55
Richard Nixon 56
Gerald Ford 61
Ronald Reagan 69
George HW Bush 64
George W Bush (just months shy of 55)
Donald Trump 70

[Polybius]

8. Reagan was 69 when he took office in January 1980

73 when re-elected. It's still the record, but it's almost guaranteed to be broken in 2020, by either Trump, Bernie, Biden, or Bloomberg.

[hlthe2b]

11. Yes. Typo. (I hate it when you can't cut and paste from a source)

[Sloumeau]

5. When one looks a Trump's age,

plus the age of four of the leading Democrats, Sanders, Biden, Bloomberg, and Warren, you realize that Americans are not really that worried about age.

[frazzled]

7. Well, Trump aside

three of the four candidates you mention are nearly a decade and a half older than the oldest previous presidents.

Sanders will be 79 on election day, Bloomberg 78, Biden 77 (though he turns 78 a few weeks later), Warren 71.
I'm on the verge of turning 70, and I'm concerned about age. But it looks like I'm going to have to hold my reservations and vote for one of them.

Another question might be: how many people over age 75 do you know who could secure a new job, or even job interview, in the open market (aside from maybe grocery bagger or store greeter)?

[Polybius]

9. Voting for an older candidate makes a person feel young

Me anyway.

[frazzled]

13. Sadly, not me

But I guess everyone's mileage may differ. My mother once told me that "old" is anyone who is 15 years older than you, something that has always rung rather true for me. When you're 20, someone 35 seems "old," or at least of an older generation; when you're 35, a 50-year-old seems distantly older; and when you're a sprightly 50 (I could still fit in a size four then and didn't have a single wrinkle or gray hair), 65 seems like "senior." But sometime after turning 65, as various joints started to ache occasionally, I had to accede to being in the senior category. (Though happily, when I went once to inquire where I could get the application for the senior public-transit card, the lady said to me, "Well, you have to be 65 to get one." When I told her I was, she said, "no way!" and I told her I loved her.)

I am aware of my age-related deficits: most prominently, the loss of ability to multitask successfully. I function at a fairly high level in both my work and private life, but now I have to focus on only one task at a time exclusively. On a given day, I have to decide whether to devote 6 hours to work at my computer, or to plan a dinner party: I can't toggle between both. (I also found out recently, when trying to show my toddler granddaughter how to do a headstand, that my once brilliant facility in performing this feat had totally vanished. My back made a great cracking sound and I was sore for days: scratch that one out.)

I also have accepted that in the outside world I have become rather irrelevant. I get it, even though I think it's somewhat unfair.

So, in a way, I don't see why these even-older-than-me candidates (EW excluded), despite their accomplishments, should get a chance at the highest-stress, most demanding and far-ranging job in the world. Maybe it's a bit of jealousy, but mostly, it's concern that they might not be up to it. Campaigning is one thing—essentially one thing: traveling around and giving the same stump speech (even it would seem in a debate) and shaking hands. Being president is something else: it's a million things, both momentous and small. To do it well (and I want a president to do it well) I don't see how an octagenarian is the most apt choice.

[wyldwolf]

6. Unless you're prepping for trivia night at your local dive, who cares?

[Polybius]

10. This is one issue Biden, Bernie, Bloomberg, and Warren supporters can all agree on

Finally!

[nsd]

12. I'm not sure what the point of this question is.

Only one candidate who made the debate stage last week (Buttigieg) is under 55. And, in his case, one could equally well ask: when was the last time a Democrat under 40 was elected? (answer: never).

Neither question seems meaningful.

[former9thward]

14. The better question is when was a non-incumbent Democrat last elected President and over 55.

Answer is Grover Cleveland in 1892. But he had been president before so really the answer is James Buchanan in 1856.

[Celerity]

15. to put this into perspective, if Kamala Harris were to be somehow sworn in Jan. 20th, 2021, only 3

Democratic Presidents in in the 192 year history of the Democratic Party would have been OLDER than Harris (56 years, 92 days), when they were first sworn into the Presidency.


Harry Truman (April 12, 1945)

James Buchanan (March 4, 1857)

and the very first Democratic President, Andrew Jackson, (March 4, 1829)


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_United_States

[BootinUp]

16. Fascinating, actually. Go Pete!

[Celerity]

17. even more fascinating, John Tyler, the 10th President, born in 1790, still has 2 living grandsons

230 years after he was born.

President John Tyler's Grandsons Are Still Alive

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/29842/president-john-tylers-grandsons-are-still-alive