President Biden turns 81 in less than two months. Republican frontrunner and former president Donald Trump is 77 years old. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is 82 and recently had some troubling freeze-ups on camera.

Believe it or not, a chunk of Congress is even older. Iowa GOP senator Chuck Grassley is 90. Democratic members of Congress Grace Napolitano and Bill Pascrell, and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton are all 86 years old. Kentucky Republican Harold Rogers is 85, as is Democrat Maxine Waters. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, no longer, is 84 years old; former Speaker Nancy Pelosi turns 84 next March, and former House whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina reaches that threshold a few months later. …

The Senate has 100 members; it can function with a couple members who are struggling to get through the day, although it weakens the institution to have several members who are senators in name only. The White House is different; it needs a commander-in-chief and the person behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office needs a certain amount of physical energy and mental sharpness.