Last year, with roughly five months left until the 2024 presidential election day, President Joe Biden stepped onto the debate stage with his opponent Donald Trump and demonstrated his difficulty forming coherent sentences to the world on June 27, 2024. The botched debate sent the Democratic Party into a state of disarray, causing Biden to step down from his position as nominee and leading Vice President Kamala Harris to take the reins. Despite the Democrats’ course correction, they would still lose the election in November.
Trump is now the oldest US president ever elected, as he will be 82 years old by the time he leaves office. According to Food and Wine Magazine, Trump’s diet consists largely of McDonald’s, and in his office rests a small button with the sole purpose of summoning cans of Diet Coke. This reinforces concerns over whether he will make it to 82 and solidifies that many Americans do not prioritize the health of their leaders.
Endemic to the realm of American politics is a certain regard for its elders, which veers into worship and borders on dangerous. Because much of the political hierarchy equates seniority with capability, few attempts have been made to challenge elderly officials who refuse to relinquish power. Subsequently, the government runs less efficiently and the officials who are vital for the defense of democracy and human rights die when they are needed most.
In a pivotal moment that assisted the rollback of American abortion rights, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg refused to retire while Barack Obama was in his second term as president. Despite surviving both pancreatic and colon cancer, Justice Ginsburg remained on the bench amid growing calls for her resignation before the 2012 presidential election between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Ginsburg declined to step down, mistakenly assuming that Clinton would win the 2016 election and appoint her successor.
Her death in 2020 then allowed President Trump to appoint Amy Coney Barrett as her replacement, paving the way for Roe v. Wade to be overturned and the decision of abortion rights to be handed to the states.
Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein died at age 90 while in office in September 2023 after announcing her intent to retire in January 2025. The tail end of her career was similarly marked by questions of health and calls for resignation, though concerns were more about her mental acuity. During one Senate committee vote, she began reading off a speech in defense of the proposed bill when the vote called for a one-word response. “Just say aye,” her aide told her.
After her death, Feinstein was swiftly replaced by Laphonza Butler, another Democrat. Others were not so lucky. Democratic representatives Sylvester Turner and Gerry Connolly both died this year, on March 25 and May 22, respectively. Because the two died under Republican governors, there may be months of delay before they are replaced.
The case of Connolly is particularly egregious. Six months before his death the party voted him top Democrat of the House Oversight Committee, denying the young progressive Alexandria Ocasio Cortez that same role in a 131-84 vote. The day after his death, the House of Representatives passed President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” tax-and-spending plan, which would make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent, boost defense spending and weaken the courts among other things. The bill passed by a one vote margin.
Make no mistake, the problem of age is not exclusive to Democrats. During one of 81-year-old Republican Senator Mitch McConnell’s weekly press conference, McConnell froze mid-sentence and stared blankly into the distance before being ushered back to his office on July 26, 2023. A month later, he froze again while answering questions during a Kentucky event.
Republican Congresswoman Kay Granger stopped showing up to Congress for half of the year in 2024, only for reporters to find her in an assisted-living facility that treats memory issues.
In an attempt to rid the Democratic Party of its culture of seniority politics, 25-year-old Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg became vice chair of the party to take matters into his own hands. He swore to provide support to younger Democrats who would challenge senior incumbents, and for that the party has ousted him.
“What we are not saying here is, ‘Oh, you’re old, you need to go,’” Hogg said in an interview with the New York Times. “What we’re saying is we need to make room for a new generation to step up and help make sure that we have the people that are most acutely impacted by a lot of the issues that we are legislating on — that are actually going to live to see the consequences of this.”
Though his stance cost him politically, Hogg’s message resonates. The country cannot be expected to move forward when its leadership refuses to pass the torch.
Nicholas Sherwood is an Opinion Intern for the spring 2025 quarter. He can be reached at nesherwo@uci.edu.
Edited by Xinyu Zhang