AHC: Centenarian Head of Government

The Prime Minister of Malaysia is 93 years old. Robert Mugabe ruled until his early nineties. Adenauer was in his eighties, and Churchill ended his second stint in his early eighties. There have been plenty of old leaders, but is it possible for someone over the age of 100 to lead a country?
 
It's certainly possible, but unlikely to happen any time in the past since it's fairly rare even today for humans to live that long, even rarer for them to still be able to function in all the capacities required of a head of state; being the leader of a nation is hard work, stressful, and draining even to younger people. In the future, however, if people keep living longer due to advances in medicine then it likely won't be unheard of.

It might be possible in the 20th/21st centuries in a dictatorship - if Mugabe holds onto power until he makes it past his 100th birthday, for example. I don't see a democracy electing somebody that old unless they're very spry for their age - campaigning is a lot of work.
 

Dolan

Banned
Seven years, we only need seven more years mate...

Queen-Elizabeth-II-Smiling-Pictures.jpg
 
Seven years, we only need seven more years mate...

Queen-Elizabeth-II-Smiling-Pictures.jpg

She's not the head of government, she's the head of state. That's not the same thing, though the two roles are often filled by the same person.

However, considering how long her mother lived, I'd say she has a decent chance of making it to 100.
 
Strom Thurmond was President Pro Tempore of the Senate in 2001, if he decides to run for reelection in 2002 (unlikely) and the right people are killed in the line of succession he could become president at age 100, but he would most likely die soon after or resign and have the House/Senate elect a replacement president (The Senate elects a new President Pro Tempore or the House elects a new Speaker of the House)

Edit: Technically Kim Il Sung works as well as he is Eternal President of the DPRK and he was born in 1912, if a leading a Necrocracy suffices the OP
 
Yasuhiro Nakasone, PM of Japan 1982–1987, has some potential. Despite his stepping down in the 80s, he remained a member of the Diet until 2004— and only because the then-current LDP leader was pushing out the "old guard". By 2010, Wikipedia says he was "aware of his status as one of the few leaders revered across Japan's suddenly fractured political landscape" and "the country's most revered elder statesman"… which both sound like reputation-burnishing lines to me (no citations given for these quotes!) but still gives us something to work with.

Let's say that Nakasone isn't dropped from the LDP list in 2004— maybe he more effectively pushes back against his impending deselection and is granted a reprieve, Koizumi doesn't resort to deselecting the old guard, or Koizumi just isn't leader to begin with… the point is, he's re-elected in 2004 and onwards. After the DPJ comes into office and the LDP is in disarray, Nakasone's sharp criticism of the government while still owning up to his own party's failings sees him return to the spotlight and become a key opposition figure; he then wins the LDP leadership in 2012, and then becomes PM— again— later that year. Assuming he can hold onto the office, he would fulfill this challenge in May 2018.

If sub-national governments count, Ken Hechler could be a possibility. He left office as West Virginia's secretary of state when he was 85— but didn't retire from politics, making a few more unsuccessful runs afterwards. If we change his post-secretary races, and have them go his way… it seems possible to manoeuvre him into the governor's office for the 2012 election— where he would hit triple digits before the end of the term.
 
possible for someone over the age of 100 to lead a country?
DO they have to actually lead it or just be named HoG?

Would the easiest not be to have a 100 year old unelected hereditary monarch HoS that becomes the HoG after say an emergency or Coop as a space filler for a month until new elections?
 
She's not the head of government, she's the head of state. That's not the same thing, though the two roles are often filled by the same person.

However, considering how long her mother lived, I'd say she has a decent chance of making it to 100.
I suggest you have a look at the powers the crown actually still has, even though they're rarely if ever used by the monarch. Being able to dismiss Parliament at will and sack the sitting PM is not a trivial matter. For that matter it's the Queen that selects the PM not the electors as the only election the PM will have actually won is to be MP for their constituency.
 
The Prime Minister of Malaysia is 93 years old. Robert Mugabe ruled until his early nineties. Adenauer was in his eighties, and Churchill ended his second stint in his early eighties. There have been plenty of old leaders, but is it possible for someone over the age of 100 to lead a country?
One factor which increase the likelihood of such occurences is the rising life expectancy. In the future being a centenarian might become part of a ordinary life.
 
I suggest you have a look at the powers the crown actually still has, even though they're rarely if ever used by the monarch. Being able to dismiss Parliament at will and sack the sitting PM is not a trivial matter. For that matter it's the Queen that selects the PM not the electors as the only election the PM will have actually won is to be MP for their constituency.
None of this changes the fact that Elizabeth is not the head of government.
 
Technically Kim Il Sung works as well as he is Eternal President of the DPRK and he was born in 1912, if a leading a Necrocracy suffices the OP
Here is something interesting regarding North Korea and the thread challenge:

Despite efforts to keep him alive to past his 100th birthday, Kim Il Sung dies at age 82. But according to Wikipedia his brother, Kim Yong-ju, is currently still alive and holds some ceremonial government position. As of the moment of this writing, Kim Yong-ju is 98 years old. He was initially expected to become the new head of state in the event of Kim Il Sung’s death until falling out of favour in 1974.

So it’s feasible that in a TL where Kim Yong-ju becomes the leader of North Korea following his brother’s death you get a nation with a centenarian head of state in September 2020. ;)
 

Dolan

Banned
So it’s feasible that in a TL where Kim Yong-Ju becomes the leader of North Korea following his brother’s death you get a nation with a centenarian head of state in September 2020. ;)
Somehow I imagine Kim Jong-Un being Dipper who end up following a political adventure with Grunkle Stan.
 
The Prime Minister of Malaysia is 93 years old. Robert Mugabe ruled until his early nineties. Adenauer was in his eighties, and Churchill ended his second stint in his early eighties. There have been plenty of old leaders, but is it possible for someone over the age of 100 to lead a country?
The Tunesian president ist democratically elected and also in His 90 es.
 
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