The Youngest President

[Adam Griffin]

Let us say that in the future, say 20-30 years, we have a presidential candidate that barely meets the age requirement: 36. One party appoints him/her in the hopes of motivating the youth of the nation to show up in droves at the polls. This person is extremely charismatic, can motivate crowds and has proven his/herself in the political arena before now.

The opposing party is emerging from an eight-year domination of House, Senate, and the Oval Office. This party has been riddled with scandals, war, an economic slum, and environmental issues. This party still holds a slight majority over the other party, but has been severely weakened from being in the spotlight and under the microscope for all of its failures.

This dark horse candidate from the other party organized efforts in his/her own state at a remarkably young age, influencing district elections in his/her first effort and influencing overall state elections in the second attempt by nearly 5%, turning the state in favor of his/her party, as opposed to its long history with the opposing party. At the age of 26, this candidate is elected in his/her district to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving two terms before running and winning a Senate seat in their state at the age of 30. This candidate serves one Senate term before running for President.

This candidate has had a fair amount of experience in the realm of foreign and domestic affairs, served on several committees, and viewed as perhaps the political prodigy of his/her generation. This candidate speaks at least 4 languages and is very communicative.

Two questions:

1) Would a candidate of this type stand a chance in a national election due to his/her age and lack of time served in Congress, despite his/her previous political successes?

2) Reading the above and assuming the candidate is of your party  and that you agree on the majority of points stated by the candidate, would the above mentioned disadvantages keep you from casting a vote for this candidate?

[MasterJedi]

It all depends on what happens but yes, they could win.

Ok who do you want to run in 2008, I can easily see your trying to make the disadvantages look like the Bush administration.

The best youngest President would be someone who turns the right age one minute before they're sworn in.

[Adam Griffin]

I really wasn't trying to pin in on the Bush Administration; however, after I typed out some of the failures of this pretend administration I did realize that they paralleled with the Bush Administration.

I am not sure who I want to run in 2008; it would not surprise me if the Democratic Party ran another unexpected candidate like John Kerry, but they might take a chance and elect someone like Hillary. Who knows.

Let's say (LOL) that I wanted to run; I will be 36 years, 8 months old in November 2024. If I wanted it to be setup perfectly, I would probably hope that the Democrats win in 2008 and 2012, while the Republicans win in 2016 and 2020.

[7,052,770]

William Jennings Bryan was 36 in 1896, so it's been done.  I think if the 36 could win if the conditions were right.
And I wouldn't vote for a candidate based on age, so if I liked him, I'd vote for him.

[Adam Griffin]

Wow. I studied William Jennings Bryan in History but I never knew he was so young. The victory gap for McKinley wasn't that large in that election, either. I'm glad some people here aren't discouraged by age; I wish we knew how the nation as a whole felt.