By Jonathan van Bilsen
I seldom write about politics in this column, but events of late have made me wonder, when is enough, enough?
There has recently been a great deal of talk about the forced retirement of the US president, especially in light of two monumental blunders he made last week. The first was during the NATO summit, where he introduced the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, by saying, “Please welcome the President of Ukraine, President Putin.” He corrected himself by saying, “He’s gonna beat President Putin,” however, the damage was done.
As if that was not enough, at the same conference, President Biden was defending his Vice President, Kamala Harris, and unintentionally said, “Look, I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president if she was not qualified to be president.”
I am sure the media gurus, who run campaign marketing, must have been cringing. Even the republicans are openly endorsing President Biden, as the Democratic hopeful in the next election.
At 81 now, or 82 in Biden’s first year of a second term, this will put him at 86 when he finishes. In today’s world, that age is not old. However, unlike most of us, his past four years have been a compilation of volatility, which surely has taken its toll.
The Republicans are not far behind with Mr. Trump running, yet again, at the young age of 78. Both men have entered an arena, in which I see nothing but a scary future, not only for the American people, but also the rest of the world.
It made me wonder about the ages of previous leaders of the free world, as well as those of our own political figureheads. The youngest President of the US was Theodore Roosevelt, who took office at age 42, after the assassination of William McKinley. John F. Kennedy was 43 when he was inaugurated into the top job.
In Canada, the youngest Prime Minister (PM) we have had was none other than Joe Clark, who was 40 the day he was sworn in, a mere 3 years younger than Justin Trudeau was at the time of his inauguration.
The oldest president to lead the US is, of course Joe Biden, who was 78 when he was sworn in. The second oldest was Ronald Reagan who was 77. In Canada, our oldest PM was Charles Tupper, at age 74.
Around the world, the oldest leader of a country is Paul Biya, President of Cameroon. He is currently 91, and has been in office for 42 years. The youngest elected official is Gabriel Attal, Prime Minister of France, who is a mere 35 years of age.
I do not have answers regarding what age someone should be retired from being the leader of a country, but I for one would think, when you reach 65, and your CPP and OAS kick in, you would want to slow down and do a little fishing.
Jonathan van Bilsen is a television host, award winning photographer, published author, columnist and keynote speaker. Watch his show, ‘Jonathan van Bilsen’s photosNtravel’, on RogersTV, the Standard Website and YouTube.
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