Archive for category: Politics

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The Intricacies of the Politics and Diplomacy of Global Health

The Politics and Diplomacy of Global Health
“Pure science is not pure anymore; if it ever was,” says former U.S. diplomat Judith Kaufmann. The Borgen Project recently had the opportunity to attend a lecture given by Kaufman where she discussed her views on the politics and diplomacy of global health. She spoke of global health issues and how they have evolved, and analyzed multiple examples of these issues in recent years. She had one overall message: “Every skill is needed, and everyone can make an impact.”

 

Political Background

Kaufmann graduated from Miami University in 1969 with a degree in Political Science. In her own words, she says she was “backed into public health.” She had no prior experience in these fields, but she had been a foreign service officer and knew how to interact within and between countries. When she was hired in the field of public health, she learned what was necessary about each health issue to craft proper policy.

She was told, “you can’t always teach doctors diplomacy.” She went on to work for the State Department, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Health Organization; she now acts as an independent consultant for groups like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

 

Past Global Issues

Kaufmann gave several examples of how multiple disciplines and skill sets have been required to tackle issues involving global health. The first instance involves the Nigerian polio vaccine boycott. In 2003, states in Northern Nigeria boycotted the polio vaccine introduced to the area by the World Health Organization that resulted in a resurgence of the disease.

WHO did this due to a lack of trust in the organization caused by divisions within the Islamic community and between the North and South. According to Kaufmann, the WHO believed “Nigeria would be easy,” and waited until later in the campaign to target the country because it didn’t factor in the Nigerian history of conflict and division.

Kaufmann believes this could have been prevented if there had been someone involved in the vaccination campaign actually familiar with the culture of the region.

Another example she gave involving the politics and diplomacy of global health occurred within the United States. She describes how the second Bush administration used politics to gain funding for the emergency plan for HIV/AIDS relief.

The President continued his campaign strategy of “compassionate conservatism,” but what really gained support for the program, in Kaufmann’s opinion, was his choice to frame the issue as a matter of national security. According to Kaufmann, “he realized you have to appeal to emotion and rationale.”

 

The Path Forward

In Kaufman’s view, the politics and diplomacy of global health will only continue to grow in complexity. As an example, she cites China’s “New Silk Road” project and the health impacts on the multiple countries it passes through, and that these must be addressed by the World Health Organization in order for the project to move forward.

She also addressed the problem with U.S. apathy towards global health. In her words, “support for global health has flatlined in the United States.” Her hope is that the youth continue to care about and give their skills to addressing global health because “the problems have gotten too big and global health is too complex to be left only to doctors.”

– Megan Burtis

Photo: Flickr

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Understanding the Basics: What is a Parliamentary System?

What is a Parliamentary System
Many in the United States may be aware that most Europe governments use a parliamentary system, but the question most are probably thinking is: what is a parliamentary system? More importantly, how is it different from the system used by the United States? Here are the answers to these questions and more.

Basics of a Parliamentary System

In terms of the U.S. system, a country’s parliament would serve as both its legislative and executive branches. The most important thing to know about parliamentary systems is that the political parties hold the power and not individuals. When citizens vote, their ballots list party names and when a party wins, seat allotment is assigned to party members based on seniority (in most cases).

When a party wins the majority of seats, it then selects a leader to serve as the executive called a Prime Minister or, in some cases, a Chancellor. This person will most likely already be the party leader and they then select their cabinet which sets the government’s agenda. If one party does not win the majority of seats in the parliament, then it must form a coalition with other parties to form a majority.

This process may take time, but it will eventually allow for the smoother passage of legislation.

One House or Two?

Many parliaments are bicameral, meaning it has two houses, while others may be unicameral, having only one house. In bicameral systems, there is a lower and an upper house, but most legislating actually takes place in the lower house.

The greatest difference between the two is the number of veto points or places where legislation can be halted within the legislative process. Unicameral systems have fewer veto points than bicameral systems making it easier and faster to pass legislation but also easier to overturn. Many parliamentary systems therefore adopt the bicameral system for stability.

Parliamentary vs. Presidential

In a parliamentary system, the executive is the Prime Minister while in a presidential system, the President is the executive. There are many differences between these two positions, but most notably, the Prime Minister and his/her cabinet arises from the legislature, while Presidents are directly elected by the people.

At first glance, many would then prefer a President because citizens choose him/her directly, yet many still prefer Prime Ministers.

First of all, they are beholden to their party, so their decisions are far more predictable than a President’s and voters know exactly what values they are voting for. This applies for all members of the legislature as well, not just the Prime Minister.

Parliamentary systems also entail the possibility for a vote of “no confidence” by the legislature which can remove a Prime Minister from power at any point if they lose the vote. Presidents, however, have fixed terms and cannot so easily be removed.

Success Rate

Citizens in the United States are very fond of the presidential system, yet in reality the success rate for parliamentary systems is far greater. The system has been a part of some European countries for centuries, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. When deciding which system to adopt, new countries must consider what is best for its country, and that may or may not be a parliamentary system.

– Megan Burtis

Photo: Flickr

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How Old Do You Have to Be to Run for Congress?

How Old Do You Have to Be to Run for Congress?How old do you have to be to run for Congress? To hold a seat in the U.S. Senate, the youngest a person can be is 30 years old. However, one does not have to be 30 years old in order to run for Senate as long as they are 30 years old by the time that they are sworn in. For example, Joe Biden was 29 years old when he ran and was elected as a senator of Delaware.

Despite the fact that Biden was extremely young when he first took office in the Senate, he is only the fifth-youngest senator in U.S. history. The youngest senator in U.S. history is John Henry Eaton of Tennessee, who was 28 years old when he became a senator. Though Eaton was elected after the age requirement for the Senate was established in 1787, birth records were poorly kept during this time so it was much harder to guarantee that all candidates were of age.

The age requirement for the Senate was debated after establishing the age requirement for the House of Representatives, which was originally 21 years old, or the voting age at the time. The age was later increased to 25 years old after a move by George Mason of Virginia, who claimed that to hold a seat in the House, one should have time to get his or her own affairs in order before trying to manage a nation. This fact helps to answer the question “how old do you have to be to run for Congress?”

However, the age requirement for the House remained lower than many other positions because the founders wanted this legislative chamber to be closer to the people than any other chamber. Due to this desire, the founders were a lot less restrictive when establishing the requirements for the House. The restriction on age for the Senate is different because the founders felt that the greater responsibilities of Senators required those in office to have more knowledge and greater character stability than Representatives.

While Eaton was the youngest Senator in US history at 28 years old, William Charles Claiborne, also from Tennessee, was the youngest Representative ever. Claiborne, born in 1775, was 22 when he was elected as a Representative. Claiborne was later elected again, at age 24, while he still did not meet the age requirement.

Though the U.S. has elected quite a few Congressmen who are under the age requirement, this trend has not continued, as the average age of a U.S. Senator is 60 years old. However, some young people who have run for Congress recently are trying to encourage more young people to run for office and get more involved in politics.

“How old do you have to be to run for Congress?” was a question that went through the mind of Erin Schrode. Schrode, a woman from Marin County, California, began a campaign for Congress when she was only 24. Schrode did not win the 2016 election for House of Representatives, but if she had, she would have been the youngest ever Congresswoman. This title is currently held by Elise Stefanik, who was 30 years old when she was elected to be a Representative in 2014.

Schrode claims that she never intended to get involved in politics, but after seeing her mother’s dedication to her work towards combating skyrocketing cancer rates, Schrode developed a passion for politics. She believes that more young people should run for Congress because 35 percent of the U.S. population is under the age of 30, but people under 30 rarely hold Congressional seats.

– Haley Rogers

Photo: Flickr

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United States Praises Peaceful Transfer of Power in Liberia

Retired international soccer star George Weah won the Liberian presidential election on December 26, 2017, succeeding Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The election marked the first peaceful transfer of power in Liberia since 1944.

President-elect Weah defeated Vice President Joseph Boakai, 73. Weah, internationally known for earning the African, European and World Player of the Year in 1995, has served as a senator since 2015. Weah, 51, received the most votes in the first round of the presidential election in October 2017.

Liberty Party nominee Charles Brumskine, who received less than 10 percent of the vote, delayed the final round of voting by accusing election fraud in a case that went to the Liberian Supreme Court. Multiple bodies, including the National Election Commission, found the election was fair. The U.N. Security Council and the White House delivered public statements commending the peaceful transfer of power in Liberia and praising the Liberian people and government.

Liberia, a country founded by freed American slaves, has experienced decades of civil war, and the 2014 Ebola epidemic killed more people in Liberia than anywhere else in the world. The West African nation is currently facing extreme poverty and issues stemming from it.

Liberia has the seventh-highest maternal mortality rate, female genital cutting affects more than two-thirds of women and girls and less than 50 percent of the population older than 15 can read and write. Moreover, 60 percent of the population is under 25. Nevertheless, the U.N. reduced its troop presence in Liberia in July 2016, and the country has the highest annual reduction rate in infant and child mortality in Africa.

In his victory speech, Weah applauded the Liberian people and said, “[T]he best way to celebrate Liberians is to improve their lives…through public governance.” He encouraged investors to come to Liberia and stressed the importance of private investment in rebuilding the economy.

Weah also thanked his predecessor, Johnson Sirleaf, who became the first elected female African head of state in 2005. “We promise to follow your footsteps in protecting the rights of Liberians and providing even greater freedoms,” Weah said.

Weah’s Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor sat next to him during his victory speech. Howard- Taylor’s ex-husband is serving a 50-year prison sentence for crimes against humanity. However, she proved to have vastly different policy ideas than her previous partner during her tenure as a senator.

While Weah certainly will face obstacles during his administration, the global community is hopeful that progress will continue in Liberia. Democratic leaders have a renewed sense of optimism for the country after this peaceful transfer of power in Liberia.

– Sean Newhouse

Photo: Flickr

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What Are Congressmen and Congresswomen?

Congressmen and Congresswomen

In simple terms, Congressmen and Congresswomen are members of the U.S. Congress who are elected to represent the people in their districts. Congressmen and Congresswomen create and pass legislation and hold hearings. Congress also plays an essential role in passing laws, because all bills must be passed by Congress before they go to the president to be signed into law.

Congress is split into two bodies, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House has 435 members, whereas the Senate has only 100 members. Each state has two senators, but the number of representatives a state has is based on its population. For example, California, a considerably large state, has 53 representatives, more than any other U.S. state.

In order to be a member of the House, a person has to be at least 25 years of age, a resident of his or her state at the time of the election, and have had U.S. citizenship for at least seven years. The Senate also requires members to be residents of his or her state at the time of election, though Senators must be at least 30 years of age and have been a U.S. citizen for at least nine years.

The requirements to hold office in Congress originate in British law. When creating the requirements, the founders made the age restriction for the House lower because it was designed to be the closest to the people and therefore less restrictive. The idea of having a higher age requirement for the Senate was because senators have duties that require more knowledge and character stability.

Aside from the differences in requirements to hold each position, the House and Senate also have different election cycles. Congressmen and Congresswomen in the House serve only two-year terms, whereas members of the Senate serve six-year terms. House elections happen every even year, but Senate elections are staggered during even years so that in any given election, only one-third of the Senate is up for reelection.

There are many differences between the House and the Senate, such as how long it takes each body to pass a bill. The House can pass a bill as quickly as in one day, whereas a bill can be debated on the Senate floor for two to three weeks.

The House operates based on committees and subcommittees, which are used to review bills and operate as an oversight for the executive branch of the U.S. government. This body’s main power is to pass federal legislation, though that legislation also has to go through the Senate and the president before becoming a law. The House also has the power to try federal officers for high crimes and misdemeanors, thought the Senate has the right to try the House’s impeachment.

Among the main powers of the Senate is the power to consent to treaties. The Senate’s consent to a treaty is required before a treaty can be ratified. The Senate also has the power to confirm the appointments of Cabinet secretaries and other federal officials and officers.

Each state has two senators to represent the state’s population, but a representative’s constituency is smaller, being only the population of their district. Congressmen and Congresswomen play an essential role in passing bills so that they can become laws after signed off on by the president. Though Congressmen and Congresswomen have many different tasks, their ultimate job is to represent their constituents in the U.S. government.

– Haley Rogers

Photo: Flickr

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What Are the Qualifications for the Senate?

Qualifications for the SenateThe United States Senate has been meeting since 1789 to ensure the prosperity of the country through legislation. The people of this legislative body are some of the most important leaders in the country, and 16 of our presidents were once a part of this institution. But what does it take to gain one of the 100 respected positions in the U.S. Senate?

There are informal as well as formal qualifications for the Senate in the United States. The formal qualifications are clearly outlined in Article I of the U.S. Constitution. First, senators must be at least 30 years old. The youngest person to become a senator, John Henry Eaton, was actually only 28 years old when he was elected in 1818, but many believe his age was unknown when he was sworn in and therefore no one realized he was violating the Constitution.

The second qualification states that senators must have U.S. citizenship for at least nine years before being elected. This qualification is slightly more flexible in comparison to the qualification for president, which requires candidates to be natural-born citizens.

This qualification also allows for immigrant representation within the U.S. government. Many have been born in Europe or Canada and then immigrated to the United States and gained citizenship, allowing them to become senators.

The last of the specified qualifications for the Senate read that candidates must be a resident of the state which they represent at the time of the election. Former president and senator Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, yet represented Illinois in the Senate, as this was the state in which he resided at the time.

There are clear advantages to actually growing up and living in the state a potential senator wishes to represent, including making it easier to be elected. However, this qualification allows for politicians to move around more freely and live in a state where they are more likely to be elected than the one in which they grew up. Again, this benefits those born outside the United States, who can choose which state to reside in and represent.

Informal qualifications for the Senate have also emerged over the years. These are more like trends that have shown the type of people that citizens tend to deem qualified and choose to elect. Most senators have college educations, both private and public, and law school attendance is popular among these. Law also ranks as the number one declared profession by senators, followed by public service or politics. However, these qualifications are by no means necessary and many elected senators have not met them.

United States Senators are directly elected by the people they represent. This began when the 17th Amendment was adopted in 1913 to ensure Senate seats were not left open due to disagreements or corruption. The 17th Amendment stated that Senators serve six-year terms without term limits.

The Senate is crucial to the American political system. Its members are respected and work to pass laws that will advance the country. Because of the power they are given, their most important qualification is that the people have chosen them to serve and represent their interests to the best of their ability. When they are elected, they accept this responsibility and must value it above all else.

– Megan Burtis

Photo: Flickr

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Living Conditions in North Korea: A Story of Extremes

Living Conditions in North Korea
Refugees and journalists consistently cite dire living conditions in North Korea, one of the most repressive authoritarian nations in the world. Leaking information from the secretive police state, they report firsthand knowledge to outsiders. According to these sources, the North Korean government commits severe human rights abuses against its citizens, and the government can barely feed its own people.

A 2014 U.N. Commission of Inquiry report cited numerous human rights abuses in North Korea, including murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, forced abortions and sexual violence. The government extracts unquestioning obedience through public executions, arbitrary detention, forced labor, tight travel restrictions and religious persecution. Citizens have no basic freedoms such as the right to expression, assembly, political opposition or independent media. A sociopolitical stratification system divides North Koreans into three classes: “loyal,” “wavering” and “hostile.”

The specter of prison is one means of keeping the population in line. North Korea’s draconian three generations rule punishes the entire immediate family if one member is convicted of a serious crime. The next two generations born in the camp are then detained there for life. Existence in the camps is extreme. Clothing and food are so scarce that prisoners survive on rats and anything else they can catch. Inmates are frequently left stunted and deformed from long hours of hard labor. Twelve-hour days, seven days a week is the normal work schedule.

Life outside of the prison camps has its own grave challenges. Living conditions in North Korea are characterized by deprivation. The elite ruling class enjoys basic benefits of modern life such as indoor plumbing, cars, meat, coffee and a few luxury items. The middle class receives sufficient food and occasional new clothes. Most people, however, struggle to survive. Half of the nation’s 24 million people live in extreme poverty. North Korea’s annual GDP per capita is $1,800, making it 197th in the world and only 2 percent of South Korea’s.

One-third of North Korean children are stunted from malnutrition. For most people, meat is an unaffordable luxury. They subsist on fermented cabbage known as kimchi, rice, corn and porridge. Most homes are heated by open fireplaces, and many have no flush toilets. Electricity, for those fortunate enough to have it, is unreliable and sporadic. Power might be available for only a few hours each day. Frequently, cell phones are used as flashlights during outages.

Theoretically, education and healthcare are free in North Korea. However, school children must provide financially for desks, chairs, building materials and heat. Patients must provide their own medications, pay for heat and cook their own meals at home.

Still, living conditions in North Korea are showing some improvement, particularly for the elite who are privileged enough to reside in the capital of Pyongyang. According to the South Korea Central Bank, the North Korean economy grew by almost 4 percent in 2016. Despite spotty service and no internet, there are now 1.5 million mobile phone users. Even in smaller cities outside of Pyongyang, electric bikes from China and Japan can be seen mingling with the country’s ubiquitous bicycles.

In Pyongyang, people are buying smartphones, tablets, hi-fi speakers and HDTVs. With the exception of accessing the internet, North Korean smartphones have similar capacities to those in other nations. In place of the internet, citizens use a state-controlled intranet. There are North Korean versions of Google, Facebook, chat rooms and online dating. Food courts in Pyongyang malls offer American-style fast food restaurants serving milkshakes and French fries. Skating rinks opened in 2013, ushering in a rollerblading craze for those wealthy enough to afford skates.

Despite difficult living conditions in North Korea, its people make the best of their circumstances. In some ways, their lives are not so different from those in democratic countries. North Koreans play video games and beach volleyball. They enjoy picnics complete with food, beer and karaoke. And of course, their teenagers take lots of selfies. Hope remains that the situation can improve so that all of its people can enjoy the living conditions that its wealthiest citizens currently do.

– Anna Parker

Photo: Flickr

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What is a Trade Embargo?


What is a trade embargo? A trade embargo is a governmental restriction on trade for political purposes.  The restriction can be referred to as a trade barrier, which is any regulation or policy that restricts international trade. Sanctions, or economic sanctions, refer to provisions of a law that can enact penalties for disobedience towards the restrictions, or rewards for obedience.

What is a Trade Embargo to the governments of nations?

The objective of a trade embargo is to put pressure on other governments by prohibiting exports to, and imports from, those countries. Embargoes rarely involve a categorical ban on all trade, as even the most restrictive tend to allow for medicine and portions of food.

Trade embargoes are often invoked against countries which demonstrate a threat towards other nations or to their own people. Embargoes are often portrayed as a means to avoid war. For instance, the United Nations, at the behest of the U.S., U.K. and others, imposed economic trade sanctions on Iraq under the regime of dictator Saddam Hussein from 1990 to 2003. Hussein, who was Iraq’s leader from 1979 until early 2003, was responsible for the genocides of his own people and was convicted of crimes against humanity in a trial following his capture.

Said Richard Holbrooke, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. during the Clinton administration, “The concept of sanctions…[is] necessary. What else fills the gap between pounding your breast and indulging in empty rhetoric about going to war besides economic sanctions?”

What is a Trade Embargo to the people of nations?

A practical facet of embargoes and sanctions is the demonstration by a government to its people that their leaders will take action against a threat.  However, the victims of the sanctions are often not those in power, but the citizens of the affected nation.

This was the case in Iraq. Led by a dictator who had proven his indifference to citizens’ welfare, powerful Iraqi leaders made deals with other nations for goods and services during the economic sanctions. As a result, they benefitted individually while Iraq’s health, strength and infrastructure crumbled.

The once developing and prospering nation became a land where eradicated diseases returned and children were dying. As a result of legal trade being blocked, citizens were poverty-stricken and dependent on food aid from the U.N. and education had all but dissipated.

At least 500,000 children did suffer and die during the U.N.-imposed economic sanctions and the country has yet to rebuild completely, even in 2017.

As history acknowledges, trade embargoes have the power to prevent war but are potentially fraught with unintended consequences.

– Jaymie Greenway

Photo: Flickr

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What Are the Qualifications for the House of Representatives?

qualifications for the house of representatives

The House of Representatives is the first line of defense for legislation in the United States. Some may not consider the House to be as elite as the Senate, but there is no denying that it is vital to the legislative process. Nineteen former presidents once served in the House of Representatives, more than the 16 who served in the Senate. But what qualifies someone to be elected to this legislative body?

The House of Representatives includes 435 members, with population size determining the number of representatives a state receives. The qualifications for the House of Representatives are less stringent than those for the Senate and the presidency. This was purposely done to limit the obstacles for ordinary people to become members. There are three formal qualifications, which are outlined in Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution.

The first qualification outlined in the Constitution states that members of the House must be at least 25 years old. Despite this, the youngest member of the House of Representatives, William Charles Cole Claiborne, was only 22 when elected and only 24 when he was elected for a second time. Currently, the youngest member of the House, Elise Stefanik, is 33 years old, exceeding the requirement by eight years.

The second qualification, like that of the Senate, deals with citizenship. The constitution states that members of the House of Representatives must have U.S. citizenship for seven years upon election. This allows citizens who were not born in the United States, which is required for the presidency, to be elected into the House, which is crucial to immigrant representation. However, the number of immigrants serving has decreased significantly since the 1960s.

As of 2015, only 407 past and present members of Congress had been born outside of the United States out of the more than 12,000 who had served. 347 of these members served in the House of Representatives. From 1967 to 1974, no immigrants served in either the House or the Senate.

The last of the qualifications for the House of Representatives concerns residency and is the same for those serving in the Senate. Those elected to the House must be residents of the state which they represent at the time of election. However, this qualification does not require that representatives live in the district they represent.

The same article of the Constitution which outlines these qualifications also includes how members will be elected. Members of the House of Representatives are elected every two years without term limits. In addition to this, the House must confirm members who are elected before they may take the Oath of Office.

The House of Representatives was modeled for the people. It was designed to be accessible as well as an integral part of the legislative process. In addition, the Speaker of the House remains a prominent political figure within the government. Every moving part within our government serves a purpose and without one the system simply could not work. These qualifications for the House of Representatives ensure that these parts continue to work to the absolute best of their ability.

– Megan Burtis

Photo: Google

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The US Top 10 Oldest Presidents to Take Office


The average age of the 45 U.S. presidents throughout history is 54 years and 11 months. Below are the top 10 oldest presidents to take office in United States history.

Gerald Ford – 61 years old

  • Ford took the oath of office in August of 1974 in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal. Notable accomplishments of his administration include: cutting inflation almost by half, decreasing unemployment, and 4 million people acquiring jobs since the recession.
  • Ford pardoned former President Richard Nixon for his crimes committed during his presidency. This act stunned the country, and his approval ratings dropped.

John Adams – 61 years, 4 months old

  • The first Vice President and second president of the United States, John Adams’s greatest contribution to U.S history was his rallying of Americans for independence. He pressed delegates at the Second Continental Congress (1776) to declare war against Britain.
  • Other of this president’s major roles in the founding of the United States include bringing a peaceful end to the Quasi-War: Adams sent a peace delegation to France and the signing of the Convention of 1800 is considered a major foreign policy accomplishment of Adams’s presidency.

Andrew Jackson – 61 years,11 months old

  • Displacement and deaths of Native Americans cloud Andrew Jackson’s presidency. Americans grew greedy for land in the 19th century, and Jackson took a systematic approach to removing Native Americans with several treaties as president.
  • The Trail of Tears was a result of various “Indian removal processes.” Some tribes wanted to stay and fight, others agreed to the treaties; however, Jackson ignored laws and the government and forced Native Americans out of their land through violence or bribery.

Dwight D. Eisenhower – 62 years old

  • Eisenhower served two terms as president, and during his presidency, he managed the tensions of the Cold War, strengthened Social Security and signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956.
  • Though he was successful in accomplishing many things, Eisenhower wavered in protecting the civil rights of African Americans and desegregating schools.

Zachary Taylor – 64 months, 3 months old

  • With military experience and success in expanding the U.S. by taking land from Mexico in the Mexican-American War, Zachary Taylor was regarded as a hero and became president in 1849.
  • His administration faced numerous problems, particularly in the expansion of slavery in new western territories and financial scandals. Taylor became the second president to die while in office and was succeeded by Millard Fillmore.

George H.W Bush – 64 years, 7 months old

  • As the 41st president of the United States, Bush brought back traditional American values as the world dramatically changed. During his presidency, he faced Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait and threat to invade Saudi Arabia. At home, he was unable to combat the increasing discontent of a failing economy, inner city violence increase and the high deficit spending.

James Buchanan – 65 years old

  • As the 15th president of the United States, Buchanan experienced the continuous conflict between Native Americans and the U.S. His presidency also witnessed the Panic of 1857 as a result of poor trade. The Dred Scott decision where an African American slave sued for his freedom occurred, which unfortunately was refused.

William H. Harrison – 68 years old

  • Out of the top 10 oldest presidents to hold office, William Henry Harrison served only one month before dying of pneumonia. Prior to becoming president, Harrison was a prominent figure in the fight against Native Americans, particularly in the Battle of Tippecanoe (1811). He won the presidential campaign against unpopular Martin Van Buren.

Ronald Reagan – 69 years old

  • Previously the oldest president to hold office in the United States, Ronald Reagan became one of the most revered figures in political history.
  • Ronald Reagan’s presidency was marked by several scandals – one, in particular, was the Iran-Contra Affair. The U.S. sold weapons to the Islamic Republic of Iran as part of an unsuccessful attempt at releasing six U.S. hostages.

 Donald Trump – 70 years old

  • The oldest president to date
  • In an unprecedented political campaign, Republican nominee Donald Trump won the presidential election in 2016. He was outspoken and unfiltered, and his controversial political remarks mark his presidency.
  • With an ongoing administration, Trump’s executive actions include:
    • Advancing the Dakota Access Pipeline and XL Pipeline
    • Increasing border security and promoting the development of the wall
    • Reversing the travel ban, suspending and banning travel from six countries

Youth is often associated with fresh ideas and renewed energy, but these top 10 oldest presidents have brought in their own decisive and controversial ideas. Top 10 source via : top10binary.com binary options trading.

– Jennifer Serrato

Photo: Flickr