Necessity of Establishing Age Limit for the Position of President: Argumentative Essay – Free Essay Example

In the United States there is no age limit on running for president however there is a minimum age which is 35. There should be an age limit on running for presidency because as humans get older our bodies begin to weaken. If someone is over the age of sixty, they should not be able to run for president. Between the ages 28 to 55 our body is generally in an optimal state of health. More closely monitoring the ages of our future candidates could help improve Our bodies and minds become less efficient and may not be able to handle the tasks that are required to run a country. Although age may bring wisdom and experience, having a younger, and more innovative mind at the head of our country may be beneficial to the U.S.

As age generally brings health issues, president candidates should have to release their medical history. Being the president of the United States is a very high stress and mentally and physically straining job. Our presidents after getting voted in to office could potentially go through yearly psych evals so the people know that the person at the head of our country is still working to his or her full mental capacity. Donald Trump at age 70, is the oldest president in American history and being president is exponentially harder than when the founding fathers first created it. Some historians are even beginning to think that it is becoming too much responsibility for one person. David Scheiner, who was Barrack Obamas physician during the 2008 presidential race, said that the American people need much more medical information from the candidates. “At these ages, stuff begins to happen”, says Scheiner.

Some benefits of having younger candidates are they won’t necessarily be caught up on older issues and/or arguments. Having a younger, fresher mind at the head of our country may also provide us with new ideas that shouldn’t be affected by small events that have happened in the past. We as a country should not have to worry if our president will make the right decisions under pressure and if he or she will begin suffering from an age-related disease while they are in office. When the founding fathers first implemented the idea of having someone run our land the people who were eligible were those who came from a rich family and were able to keep themselves as healthy as possible for the time period. Now candidates do not necessarily need to come from a rich background. For example, Bernie Sanders, a candidate in the 2016 presidential race, was born in Brooklyn by two Polish immigrants. Bernie was not raised with a lot of money, but he was still able to make a name for himself and come in third in a presidential election. Sanders is now seventy-seven years old, and still able to be a potential president. Although Bernie Sanders may have good plans while he is in office, he is still close to the average American male life expectancy at 81.3 years. The health risks that unfortunately come with age shouldn’t have to be something that we the people or that congressmen and women should have on their mind. Their job is to run our country and to keep us safe, with our Commander in Chiefs health in mind it may take away from their ability to more efficiently run the government.

Some others believe that age is just a number and has no effect on a person’s ability to make important decisions. Another reason that some people think that having an age restriction on the presidency would be ageist and limiting the amount opportunities that the older people in our country get. Having an age limit on the presidency will prevent us from having someone with a lot of life experience that younger candidates simply don’t have. Age should not be the only restriction for running for president. Age also shouldn’t be the only proxy for determining the health of our candidates especially with life expectancy in America on the rise. Medically speaking there is a difference between being old and feeling old. A study conducted at University College London found that people who reported feeling younger than their actual age, lived longer than those who felt that they were their age or older.

Having an age limit on the presidency would lower the risk of a candidate who may look fit for the job but truly is not get the position. Age may bring wisdom and experience, but unfortunately age also brings many health risks both mental and physical. These risks or even the thought of these risks may assist in disallowing our president from making the best decisions under a high-stake situation.