What Should We Know About the President’s Health?
Regardless of who wins the Democratic primary, the 2020 presidential election will feature two septuagenarian candidates, either of whom, if elected, would be the oldest person ever sworn in to office.
It’s hardly surprising, then, that voters want more information about the candidates’ health, especially as the coronavirus rips across the country and presents an outsize threat to older people and those with preexisting conditions. Bernie Sanders recently suffered a heart attack. Joe Biden’s meandering statements have raised concerns about whether he’s lost a step. And Donald Trump, obese and averse to exercise, has long been the subject of psychiatric speculation.
[Joe Sam Robinson Jr. and Buckner F. Melton Jr: The American presidency wasn’t built for men this old]
The of Americans now think that presidential candidates should release their medical records. These demands for greater transparency are not unreasonable. The public deserves a basic understanding of candidates’ health. But as is often the case in medicine, the question is not
