6 Jobs That Donald Trump and Joe Biden Are Too Old to Legally Hold
In all likelihood, when the American tradition and mental horror that is the presidential election comes later this year, we’ll be choosing between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, both of whom are significantly advanced in age.
Does this age come with greater wisdom? Common thought would tell us, yes. But it also comes with being more likely to slip in the bathtub and activate the order of succession. Trump is 77 as of this writing, and Biden is 81. There’s no upper limit on the age of the president, so we’ll just have to hope whatever happens, we never need to do anything important that requires operating a Roku. There are, though, some jobs in this country that by their age, both men are ineligible to hold, being well past the mandatory retirement age.
Here are six of those jobs...
Airline Pilot
Most countries have a mandatory retirement age for airline pilots, given the need for safety — as long as you’re not on a Boeing and the doors stay on, that is. For the FAA in the United States, the mandatory retirement age for pilots is 65, a mark both presidential hopefuls outstrip by a good decade. As of this year, the FAA is fighting against attempts to raise that age to 67, saying “pilot fitness is critical to safety.” Don’t worry, elderly pilots, you can pilot the country instead!
Air Traffic Controller
Another airport role with strict retirement limits is that of air traffic controllers. My first guess would be it’s based on the amount of stairs there must be in one of those towers, but that’s probably wrong. Their mandatory retirement age is even lower than pilots’, despite being even less physically taxing than the job of a pilot (I assume, unless those buttons are harder to push than they look). Air traffic controllers are forced to hang up the headset at the age of 56, meaning both Trump and Biden are a full 20 years past their air-traffic-controlling prime.
Park Ranger
You’d think that wandering around in nature with a big hat on would be a perfect job for a doddering old man. Not so, if you’re talking about being an official park ranger. Biden and Trump would be long dismissed, with the National Park Service requiring rangers to retire at 57 (with a few exceptions, which they also don’t qualify for). Not only that, but if we’re talking about getting hired, they’re even further off. A person can’t be appointed a park ranger after the age of 37, meaning they’re both a minimum of 40 years beyond the possibility of getting the gig.
Firefighter
This one isn’t that surprising. Sending either one of them into a burning building would probably be considered a form of assassination. Still, should they have dreams of getting to ride the big red truck, they unfortunately will be left with a kind rejection. The mandatory retirement age for a firefighter is, like park rangers, 57. There is a wrinkle — they can retire after 57 if they haven’t yet completed 20 years of service. Even keeping that in mind, if they got the job at 56 years and 364 days, they would have both had their hoses hung in the rafters by now.
Judge
The one that feels maybe the scariest, given that it’s also mostly centered around paperwork and important decisions, is the number of places and courts around the country that neither would be allowed to serve as a judge. In 18 states, judges are forced to retire at the age of 70. Not a particularly sunny sign, given that this is the same government saying that elderly people can’t be trusted in a branch that either president would end up overseeing. These are mostly state judges, with Supreme Court Justices having no mandatory retirement age, which so far hasn't served as a sparkling example of why such age limits are not necessary.
Voting in the Papal Conclave
This one has two caveats. First, it’s not specifically a job, but one particular responsibility. Second, Trump does manage to squeak right under this very low bar. In the Roman Catholic Church, there’s no age limit on cardinals, which makes sense because what the hell else are those guys going to do? However, if a cardinal is over the age of 80, they are no longer allowed to vote in the papal conclave. Probably to avoid a ballot box full of lunch orders from confused holy men.
