…um, wow, was my last post so bad it killed this thread? Man, why is it that, whenever you kill something, it dies?
Well, here’s my second take at this, staying closer to the original concept of 2 oldsters after WW2 starting it all off…
Presidents
Time in office: Number) President, party-state (age in office) – notes
1933-1945: 32) Franklin Delano Roosevelt, D-NY (51-63) – died in April from a hemorrhage
1945-1946: 33) John Hollis Bankhead II, D-AL (72-73) – died in June from a stroke
1946-1949: 34) John Nance Garner IV, D-TX (77-80) – oldest President
1949-1957: 35) Harold Edward Stassen, R-M (41-49) – term-limited – median age: 45
1957-1965: 36) George Michael Leader, D-PA (39-47) – term-limited – median age: 43
1965-1969: 37) John Goodwin Tower, R-TX (39-43) – lost re-election – median age: 41
1969-1977: 38) Edward Moore “Ted” Kennedy Sr., D-MA (38-46) – term-limited – median age: 42
1977-1981: 39) H. John Heinz III, R-PA (38-42) – assassinated in March – median age: 40
1981-1983: 40) Michael Bradley “Mike” Enzi, R-WY (36-38) – resigned in August – median age: 37
1983-1989: 41) Joseph Fidler “Joe” Walsh, R-CA (35-41) – lost re-election; 2nd youngest President – median age: 38
1989-1997: 42) William M. “Bill” Walker, D-AS (37-45) – term-limited – median age: 41
1997-2000: 43) John G. Rowland, R-CN (43-47) – impeached in June – median age: 45
2000-2005: 44) Jane Swift, R-MA (35-39) – first female President/youngest President – median age: 37
2005-2013: 45) Artur G. Davis, D-AL (37-45) – first African-American President – median age: 41
2013-2021: 46) Marco Antonio Rubio, R-FL (41-49) – first Cuban-American President – median age: 45
2021à: 47) Patrick Erin Murphy, D-FL (37à) – just got sworn in
The average age for the President between 1949 and 2021 = 41.33continuous
Elections
1948: Harold E. Stassen/Kenneth Wherry won over Richard B. Russell Jr./Scott W. Lucas
1952: Harold E. Stassen/Richard Nixon won over Estes Kefauver/Gerald “Pat” Brown Sr. and Strom Thurmond/Harry Byrd Sr. (3%)
1956: George Leader/Hubert Humphrey won over Richard Nixon/Robert B. Anderson
1960: George Leader/Hubert Humphrey won over Cecil Underwood/William Knowland
1964: John G. Tower/Daniel B. Brewster won over Hubert Humphrey/Edmund Muskie
1968: Ted Kennedy/George McGovern won over John G. Tower/Daniel B. Brewster
1972: Ted Kennedy/George McGovern won over Robert “Bob” Dole/Rick Schweiker
1976: John Heinz/Nelson Rockefeller won over Gerald “Jerry” Brown Jr./Mike Gravel and Bernie Sanders/Norman Hill (5%)
1980: John Heinz/Larry Lee Pressler won over Gary Warren Hart/Jesse Jackson Sr. and Paul Tsongas/Ralph Nader (6%)
1984: Joseph F. Walsh/Donald L. Nickles won over John H. Glenn Jr./Birch Bayh Jr.
1988: William “Bill” Walker/“Al” Gore won over Joseph F. Walsh/Donald L. Nickles
1992: William “Bill” Walker/“Al” Gore won over Donald J. Trump Sr./Colin Powell and H. Ross Perot/James Bond Stockdale (19%)
1996: John G. Rowland/Mike Huckabee won over “Al” Gore/Christopher J. Dodd and H. Ross Perot/Benjamin S. Carson Sr. (10%)
2000: Jane Swift/Peter G. Fitzgerald won over Johnny R. Edwards/Blanche Lincoln and Jesse Ventura/Gary Earl Johnson (14%)
2004: Artur G. Davis/Martin O’Malley won over Peter G. Fitzgerald/Susan Molinari
2008: Artur G. Davis/Martin O’Malley won over “Bobby” Jindal/Timothy J. Pawlenty
2012: Marco A. Rubio/Tom Cotton won over Martin O’Malley/Kirsten Gillibrand
2016: Marco A. Rubio/Tom Cotton won over Julian Castro/Nina Hudson Turner and Donald J. Trump Jr./Duncan D. Hunter (7%)
2020: Patrick Murphy/Tulsi Gabbard won over Tom Cotton/Ronald “Ron” DeSantis
Explanation
----John Bankhead became FDR’s running mate in 1944 instead of Truman (the POD). Bankhead picked 76-year-old former VP John Garner to be his Secretary of State upon assuming the Presidency. Without Truman, the Secretary of State remains its place in the Presidential Succession Line to this day. In 1947, Garner, already unpopular for his inactive and lethargy attitude, suffered a heart attack but survived. After several gaffes are recorded on the radio, the Republicans call for an investigation into the mental well-being of Garner in early 1948, causing him to become even more unpopular. Enraged by the string of sick, elderly leaders, the voters gather around the youngest and healthiest-looking candidate in the 1948 election: 41-year-old Harold Stassen. Stassen’s popular administration created a national movement. Soon people became more involved in politics at younger and younger ages, which inadvertently also caused years of ageism and age-related prejudice across America...
----Over the years, more and more young people became politicians and cabinet members, and the idea among US Senators of running for President during their first or second term became a common practice.
----Dole narrowly won over fellow freshman US Senator Howard Baker in 1972. That year, Bernie Sanders was elected to the US Senate (still serving, now as Senate leader).
----Nelson Rockefeller was a risky pick for VP: many critics thought he was simply too old to even be VP, which they sort of were right about, as Rockefeller retired after a near-fatal heart attack in 1979 and was replaced by Mike Enzi, Governor of Wyoming (1979-81).
----In 1980, Hart won over fellow Senators Joe Biden and Bill Bradley.
----Enzi’s VP, Larry Pressler, died in a train accident in late 1982 and was replaced by musician-turned-congressman (serving from 1975 to 1983) Joe Walsh, only for Enzi to resign after suffering a nervous breakdown two weeks after the death of his wife in a car accident. The 1984 election saw the Democrats put forth its oldest candidate in years: 63-year-old astronaut-turned-US Senator John Glenn. Had Glenn won, the still-ongoing “Era of the Youngsters” would most likely have ended. However, Walsh proved to be an excellent debater, and won the election by a comfortable margin. However, he lost re-election in 1988 due to an economic downturn to Bill Walker (41-year-old Governor Henry Cisneros of Texas declined to run).
----The Bill Walker candidacy came with both youth and experience, serving as mayor of Valdez from 1979 to 1981, then as Governor of Alaska from 1982 to 1989. He won the nomination over another young mayor-turned-Governor, Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. In 1992, Dan Quayle lost the Presidential nomination to businessman Donald Trump, who supported mandatory retirement for elected officials upon reaching the age of 65, and suggested anti-elderly laws to limit their rights to on guns and drive cars. Due to a higher-than-usual turnout of elderly voters in November, Trump lost the election in a landslide. The 1996 election, though, was highly contested.
----Jane Swift served as a US Congresswoman from 1993 to 1999, and as the US Secretary of State from October 1999 to June 2000, when she ascended to the Presidency upon the impeachments of Vice President Huckabee in April and President Rowland in June. She quickly was given the nomination for President and just barely won in November. She gave birth to twins in May 2001, and declined running for a second full term to focus on raising her children.
----Artur Davis had previously served as a US Congressman (1995-1999) and Governor (1999-2004).