Tevi Troy explores the history of American presidents facing questions about their advanced age.

President Biden’s strange and somewhat disconnected performance in the wake of the disaster in Afghanistan has once again raised questions about his age. He is both the oldest president elected as well as the oldest person to serve as president. Even his partisans acknowledge—gingerly, to be sure—that he “has lost some speed off of his fastball,” or some kind of similar circumlocution. But while Biden at 78 is indeed the oldest president, he is far from the first to face the age question.

The president who has faced the most questions about his age was Ronald Reagan, who left office at 77. Indeed, until Biden, Reagan was the oldest person to serve as president. After he failed to secure the GOP nomination in 1968, the speculation began that his window for running for president might have passed. Reagan ran again for the Republican nomination in 1976, more seriously this time, but he was already in his mid-60s. …

… When George H. W. Bush ran against Reagan for the top Republican slot in 1980, the age issue came up again. Bush often made a point that being 56 was the perfect time to run for president. He did not say, although it was obvious, that Reagan by definition was not the perfect age. Bush also jogged a lot, showing off his mid-life vigor, and would claim that he was “up for the ’80s.” These ploys annoyed the Reagan people, who felt—correctly—that Bush was trying to play up the age contrast without alienating older voters by explicitly mentioning it. …

… Reagan may have been the oldest before Biden, but he was not the only other president to face the age question. Dwight Eisenhower was inaugurated at 63 and served until he was 71. He also had some health challenges as president, suffering a heart attack in 1955 and a stroke in 1957. …

… The average age of a U.S. president is 55, and anyone significantly older or younger than that will inevitably face the age question. The issue, however, is not about age per se, but about how one handles it.