A couple of years ago, when Gerald Ford became the longest-living former President, The Eisenthal Report tried to put President Ford's longevity into perspective. TER noted that if Abraham Lincoln lived as long as Ford, he would have lived into the 20th century, and if Theodore Roosevelt had lived as long as Ford, he would have been around for the Korean War.
One can perform a similar exercise for the current Republican nominee for President, Arizona Senator John McCain, who at age 72 would be the oldest person ever elected to the office. Thomas Dewey, the Republican nominee for President in 1944 and 1948 achieved and - unfortunately - died young. He was only 68 when he died in 1971. Thus, Dewey would have reached McCain's current age in 1974. It is actually not a terribly absurd thought that a living and healthy Dewey might have become President at that point. Perhaps Richard Nixon might have selected Dewey as his Vice President when Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973 - and in this fanciful scenario, Dewey would have become President in 1974 when Nixon himself resigned.
Lyndon Johnson, the 36th President of the United States, also died young - at 64 in 1973. He would have reached McCain's current age in 1980. Of course, the nation did elect a senior citizen that year - Ronald Reagan at the age of 69.
John F. Kennedy would have reached McCain's current age in 1989 - an illustration if any is needed of what this country lost with Kennedy's murder.
The point of this is that we, as Americans, should be pleased that someone of McCain's experience is available to be a potential President - even if we do not choose - as I will not - to put him to work as President.
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