Skip to content
Navigating a New Political Landscape: View real-time updates about the impact of and Northeastern’s response to recent political changes.
Apply
Stories

Should there be a maximum age limit for elected politicians?

People in this story

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., right, joined by from left, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., Sen. John Barrasso, and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, pauses as he speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021.

If it seems like elected leaders in the United States are getting older and older, it is not just your imagination. President Joe Biden, at 79, is the oldest president in U.S. history, surpassing his predecessor, Donald Trump, who—elected in 2016 at 70 years of age—is now second oldest. The current 117th Congress is also the oldest it has been in two decades. 

A recent YouGov poll found that more than half of Americans support a maximum age limit for elected officials to hold office, and prominent public figures including Elon Musk and former President Jimmy Carter have expressed desires to see limitations put in place.

The question of “how old is too old” for politicians seeking public office is not often framed as a policy question, says Jeremy Paul, professor of law and former dean of Northeastern’s School of Law. But the question of whether there should be term limits, as opposed to age limits, might better address some of the concerns the public have with politicians—lawmakers specifically— clinging to positions of power for prolonged periods, or overstaying their welcome. “There has been a very robust movement in the country for term limits for a very long time,” Paul says. 

Continue reading at News@Northeastern.

More Stories

06/18/25 - BOSTON, MA. - The John D. O’Bryant African American Institute hosts the 2025 Northeastern Juneteenth event on Wednesday, June 18, 2025 in the Cabral Center. Students from the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science in Boston discussed what Juneteenth means to them after hearing from Northeastern speakers Rev. Dr. Keith Bailey, Dr. Deborah Jackson, Chancellor Ken Henderson and Chief Inclusion Officer Richard O’Bryant. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University

Northeastern community celebrates Juneteenth, reflects on freedom and belonging

06.18.2025
Smoke rises from the building of Iran's state-run television after an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo)

How do Israelis and Iranians feel about the Israel-Iran war?

06.17.2025
01/22/25 - BOSTON, MA. - Stock photo of the TikTok logo on Jan 22, 2025.

TikTok ban delayed for third time. Why Northeastern experts aren’t surprised

06.20.25
Northeastern Global News