Last Monday Senator Barack Obama celebrated his 47th birthday. If elected, he will be one of the youngest presidents in United States history after Teddy Roosevelt, John Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Ulysses S. Grant. Senator John McCain, on the other hand, will turn 72 this month. If he is chosen, he will be the oldest first-term president in history. Looking at the numbers alone, these two candidates could not be much farther apart.
It is easy to hear Americans take the age of the presidential candidates into consideration. When weighing the “pros” and “cons” of the candidates, some Americans make statements such as “Obama is too young” or “McCain in too old to be president.” But while Americans can argue freely about age, in Jordan the topic is slightly taboo.
In fact, the former King Hussein ascended to the Jordanian throne on August 11, 1952. He was only 16 years old at that time, but went on to be the longest serving executive head of state. King Abdullah took over the Jordanian thrown at age 37 . While their ages were shocking to some Jordanians, many grew to love the kings and their accomplishments as young leaders. Therefore, many Jordanians do not wish to talk negatively about the age of a leader because they fear it might be implied that they do not approve of their king.
Bearing in mind this unique circumstance, I asked 20 Jordanian students whether age was a factor when choosing an American leader. Sixty percent thought age was not a factor. When asked why they thought a leader’s age did not matter, these students responded in very similar ways. Most students fell into two major frames of thought. Some, like Anas, 18, said that the “brain”, not the age, is what is important in a leader.
“In my life I’ve seen that the aim, the plan and the mind of a leader will dictate how good he will be, not his age,” Khulud Al-Habhlah, 32, said.
Others, such as Abdullah Ahmed Zregant, 26, agreed that King Hussein and King Abdullah are examples of how leaders can be successful despite a lack of experience.
“King Hussein governed since he was a teenager and did a wonderful job as a leader,” he said.
Dana Hamawi, 21, said that younger presidents and leaders have had “great visions” for their people.
“They achieved a lot in their lives, and had plans for future followers,” she said.
Three students (15 percent) believed that age did matter when choosing a leader, and encouraged young Americans to vote for a younger president because “he will know what a young person needs.”
Wisam Badder, 21, said “if [young people] choose a young leader, he would represent the youth better, but if they choose the elder one, he would still have more political maturity.”
Bayan Al-Ka’abheh, 19, said she thinks it is logical for age to increase a candidate’s wisdom, but her experience has shown that age is sometimes just a number.
“Every American voter should take the age matter into account, because the older a candidate is, that means he has more experience in life. But you should keep in mind that there are many leaders that were young and they did many good things: for example, King Abdullah of Jordan.”
However, 25 percent of students said that age positively correlated with the candidate’s amount of experience. While these students varied on which candidate they preferred for U.S. president, all thought the age of a candidate was important.
“Age matters because the older a candidate is, the more he will know about things in life,” Shather, 20 said. Other youth stated that older candidates are “wiser” and “more experienced.”
These Jordanians cared more about the person than the number. While many American youth can only remember the presidency of George W. Bush, who is now 62, most of these Jordanian youth have lived happily under a young king. Others, while happy with their king, still caution the need for experience.
“Choosing a young president because he is young could lead to chaos, and choosing an old president because he is experienced could lead to much of the same,’ Al-Ka’abheh said. “I wish I knew the right answer.”