The Other Time America Panicked Over a President’s Age
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How old is too old? This isn’t the first time the question has dominated a presidential race. For a brief moment, 40 years ago, the country could talk of nothing else. I should know: I was one of the reasons.
One spring day in 1984, I was chatting with Burns “Bud” Roper, the veteran pollster. At the time, I was The Wall Street Journal’s White House correspondent, covering Ronald Reagan’s reelection campaign. Thanks to a surging economy, Reagan seemed poised for an easy victory in November. The campaign was shaping up to be a bore. “Bud,” I asked, “is there any chance he could lose?”
When it came to polling, Bud had seen it all, going back to Harry Truman versus Thomas Dewey. He told me he hadn’t found anything that could stop Reagan. Then he paused. “Actually, there is one thing,” he added. “People won’t say it
