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.
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.