Oh, Sweet Youthful Officeholders

Vox's Matthew Yglesias tweeted this morning, 

Kamala Harris, the young person in Democrats' leadership lineup, is older than Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, JFK, FDR, or LBJ (!) were when they became president.

No one is that surprised, I imagine, about Obama, Bush, Clinton, Carter, or JFK, since they are all known to have been on the young end of our presidential age range (for those of us who are aware of presidential ages). But FDR — and especially LBJ?

Here are the details. Thinking about this also made me want to review the accomplishments of each of these men, vs. those of Senator Harris, before they became president (or in LBJ's case, vice president).

First, our comparison: Kamala Harris, born October 20, 1964 (just barely a Boomer, I would argue she's really in GenX). Right now she's about 55.8 years old. On January 20, 2021, she'll be 56.25. In addition to other legal positions in California, she has been district attorney of San Francisco, attorney general of California, and a U.S. senator from California.

Barack Obama, born August 4, 1961, was about 47-and-a-half when he was sworn in on January 20, 2009. Aside from his (famous) past as a community organizer, he had been a law professor, a state senator, and a U.S. senator from Illinois.

George W. Bush, born on July 6, 1946 — the same year as Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump — was about 54-and-a-half at his inauguration in 2001. He had been a businessman (co-owner of a pro sports team) and governor of Texas.

Bill Clinton was about 46-and-a-half when he was sworn in on January 20, 1993, having been born August 19, 1946. He had been a law professor, attorney general of Arkansas, and governor of Arkansas.

Jimmy Carter, born October 1, 1924, was just a bit over 52 when he took office in January 1977. After serving in the Navy, he was a state senator, a peanut farmer, and governor of Georgia.

Lyndon Johnson was born on August 27, 1908, so that means he was 55 and a few months when he became president suddenly on November 22, 1963, and was about 52-and-a-half when he became vice president in 1961. Before that, he had served in the House of Representatives for 12 years (first elected at age 29!) and the U.S. Senate for 12 years, including being the leader for seven years. The Wikipedia reports: "Johnson is one of only four people who served in all four federal elected positions." Before all of that, in his 20s he was a high school teacher and congressional aide.

John Kennedy — who all trivia buffs know was the youngest person elected president (Teddy Roosevelt is the youngest to have served as president) — was a bit under 44-and-a-half when sworn in on January 20, 1961…his date of birth was May 29, 1917. Before that he had been in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives for 13 years total, having served in WWII not long before that (he was elected in 1947). 

Franklin Roosevelt was just 51 when he was sworn in on March 4, 1933. Born on January 30, 1882, by 1933, he had already been a New York state senator, assistant secretary of the Navy, run for vice president in 1920 at age 38, survived polio, and been governor of New York.

All of that said, I'm still surprised that Kamala Harris is older than Johnson and Roosevelt. I attribute her comparatively youthful appearance to a combination of (as they say) "Black Don't Crack/Asian Don't Raisin" and that people just looked older in earlier eras because of fashion choices, harder lives, and the effects of smoking. And partly because the image I have in my head of Roosevelt and Johnson is probably not from 1933 or 1963, respectively. 

Though here they are in the proper years (Harris currently, of course, rather than January 2021):

Joe Biden used to look younger than his age, too, in my opinion... until some time in his mid-70s. 

If I think about it hard enough, maybe the thing that really gets me about all of this is that each of these people is or was at least 10% younger than I am now when they became president (or ran for vice president, in Harris's case). Eek.

___

Reading through these presidents' Wikipedia pages for the basics made me remember I really want to read Robert Caro's biography of LBJ. One of these years when I get a few months to do that, I hope I will.