- Ronald Reagan became the oldest president when he was inaugurated at the age of 69
- Donald Trump and Joe Biden broke that record at their respective ages of 70 and 78 when they took their oath of office
- Reagan’s daughter Patti Davis thinks cognitive tests for older candidates are ‘a good idea’
Ronald Reagan’s daughter Patti Davis believes older presidential candidates should undergo cognitive testing.
President Reagan was 69 years old when he was inaugurated in 1981, making him the oldest president in American history at the time. He left office after two terms at the age of 77.
But the last two American presidents have broken Reagan’s record.
Donald Trump was 70 years old when he took the oath of office in January 2017 and Joe Biden was 78 when he became president.
Now politicians, rivals and critics are calling for higher standards for older candidates to ensure they are mentally fit to serve as CEO. This includes 2024 hopeful Nikki Haley, 52, who believes politicians aged 75 and over should be required to take a cognitive test.
Ronald Reagan’s daughter Patti Davis said it would be a ‘good idea’ to impose cognitive tests on older presidential candidates
Ronald Reagan was the oldest president in American history at the time of his term in office; he was 69 when he was inaugurated. The late president is pictured with his wife Nancy Reagan after taking the oath of office on January 20, 1981
Arguments for the claim intensified after Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Hur released a scathing report this month questioning Biden’s “poor memory” and “decreased abilities in old age.”
Hur noted that Biden forgot the dates he was vice president, as well as when his son Beau died.
Davis, 71, told NBC Meet the Press host Kristen Welker that her father’s age at leaving office now seems young.
‘The president is in his eighties, former president Trump – the frontrunner – is in his late seventies. Do you think there should be cognitive tests for people running for the highest office in the land?” Welker asked Davis in an interview Sunday morning.
“Probably,” Reagan’s daughter said. “I mean, just what we know about what age can do. That doesn’t always happen, but it would probably be a good idea.’
“My father was 77 when he left office after two terms,” she added. “It seems so young now, doesn’t it?”
If Biden were to earn a second term, he would end his eight-year term at the age of 86.
If Trump wins a second, non-consecutive term in 2024, he would end his presidential career at the age of 82.
President Joe Biden is the oldest president in American history. He was 78 at the time of his inauguration (pictured) and would be 86 at the end of a second term if re-elected in 2024.
While Republicans often cite Reagan as an inspiration, Davis says her late father would not recognize or approve of the current political landscape.
“I wonder if you could think about today’s politics,” Welker posed to Davis. “What do you think your father would say about our current state of politics?”
“I think he’d be really shocked, you know?” Davis said of Reagan, who was president from 1981 to 1989.
“It was just more civilized,” she said of the political world of yesteryear. “And he didn’t understand a lack of civility. He didn’t understand attacking someone else.’
“I mean, he could be pretty sharp in what he would say about someone else,” the actress and author added of her father. ‘But he didn’t understand cruelty. And that’s what we’re dealing with now.’
‘I don’t think he would understand that. I think he would be really afraid of our democracy.”