This blogger has written about his concern over the fact that instead of having younger Presidential candidates, a “new generation of leadership”, we are now faced with having the oldest combination Presidential nominees in American history.
Donald Trump would be 70 years and past seven months old when he would take the oath, and Hillary Clinton would be 69 years and nearly three months if she was to take the oath.
Only Ronald Reagan and Dwight D. Eisenhower were past 70 in office, and Trump would be eight months older than Reagan was for the first term, and older than Eisenhower by four months for Trump’s first term.
Hillary Clinton would be the second oldest first term President behind Reagan at inauguration, at eight months younger than he was for the first term, age 69 and three months.
And now, there is the strong possibility that Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House, might be the Vice Presidential running mate for Trump, making him the oldest VP nominee since 1904, at age 73 and seven months. Only Henry G. Davis, Democratic Vice Presidential nominee with Presidential candidate Alton B. Parker in 1904, was older, at the age of 80, and Theodore Roosevelt won a landslide victory over the obscure and mediocre pair of rivals. Davis had served in the US Senate from West Virginia, but it had been 21 years since he finished his service.
As it is, Gingrich has not served in office for 18 years, a tremendously long time, unmatched except for being surpassed by Davis a century ago.
Additionally, if Hillary Clinton selects Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren as her Vice Presidential running mate, as inspiring as that would be, it would mean that we would have the second oldest combination of candidates after Trump and Gingrich, with Warren being 67 and seven months to Hillary’s age of 69 and three months by Inauguration Day.
This is worrisome, as it would be better with two “old” candidates, that the Vice Presidential nominees be substantially younger, rather than three years older in the case of Gingrich and two years younger in the case of Warren.