I don’t care at all about the pope; they’re meaningless entities.
The President, however, especially when Congress is forced to toe their line, is. No president should be permitted to be more than 20 years older than the median age of the general population when they’re done leading the country. In this case, they shouldn’t be more than 58y old when their 8y term is up. This way, they and their progeny need to live with the decisions made for at least ~20y after they’re out of office.
There’s a reason there is forced retirement in some industries and government groups. Why the fuck we don’t enforce similar rules on the president I’ll never know.
> There’s a reason there is forced retirement in some industries and government groups. Why the fuck we don’t enforce similar rules on the president I’ll never know.
Yep, I am not a big fan of our military policy, but I have a friend who recently retired as an Army LTC.
At his level there are standard procedures - at each rank you have a timeframe, and the rule is "promote or retire". Precisely to ensure you don't break the assembly line.
Even in software. "We don't hire mid level/junior/associate engineers, only senior/staff". No pipeline can hurt. Yeah, you can hire for all that, but there's value of having junior staff within, when you promote those staff level folks to EMs and Directors.
Politics & World Leaders
• Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) – Former President of South Africa, died at 95.
• George H. W. Bush (1924–2018) – 41st U.S. President, died at 94.
• Jimmy Carter (1924– ) – 39th U.S. President, currently 100 (as of 2024).
• Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (1900–2002) – Died at 101.
• Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921–2021) – Died at 99.
Arts & Entertainment
• Kirk Douglas (1916–2020) – Actor, died at 103.
• Olivia de Havilland (1916–2020) – Actress, died at 104.
• Betty White (1922–2021) – Actress/comedian, died at 99.
• Norman Lear (1922–2023) – Television writer/producer, died at 101.
• Tony Bennett (1926–2023) – Singer, died at 96.
Science & Literature
• Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) – Philosopher, died at 97.
• Rita Levi-Montalcini (1909–2012) – Nobel Prize–winning neurologist, died at 103.
• Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) – Architect, lived to 91.
• Maya Angelou (1928–2014) – Poet and author, died at 86 (not 90s, but close).
• Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) – Science fiction author, died at 72 (not 90s).
Business & Other Notables
• David Rockefeller (1915–2017) – Banker/philanthropist, died at 101.
• John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937) – Oil magnate, died at 97.
• Iris Apfel (1921–2024) – Fashion icon, died at 102.
People thought the President had died just yesterday because of how rapidly his health has declined since taking office in January. Bernie Sanders, for example, has had multiple health emergencies over the past few years.
Using a few famous people as examples is hardly a reliable metric. My aunt is still alive at 103 and will likely make it to 104 if nothing changes. She has fewer health problems than other family members in their 60s if you discount the fact that she’s basically blind, can't hear well, is stuck in a bed 24/7, and has severe dementia that prevents her from recalling things seconds after being told, aside from some specific memories from her youth. Meanwhile, almost all of her children died under very poor health conditions in their 70s and 80s. Her oldest daughter looked like she was a corpse at 80.
Some people just get lucky with their genes, and it doesn’t always pass on to their children or grand-children.
PS: For reference, she had 11 children, almost all dead now while she's alive and can't recall their names or ever having children.
Ed Thorpe is well into his 90s. Here’s an interview with him at 89. Seems quite healthy: https://youtu.be/CNvz91Jyzbg?si=VNj61A256ZOBM977
This 10 minutes deals directly with fitness and longevity: https://youtu.be/dzCpUbkC1dg?si=LqV-tUFyxyYMW0qC