{"id":8026,"date":"2023-07-06T12:53:05","date_gmt":"2023-07-06T17:53:05","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-04-23T23:54:57","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T03:54:57","slug":"about-half-of-americans-say-the-best-age-for-a-us-president-is-in-their-50s","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2023\/07\/06\/about-half-of-americans-say-the-best-age-for-a-us-president-is-in-their-50s\/","title":{"rendered":"About half of Americans say the best age for a U.S. president is in their 50s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When asked about the ideal age of a president, around half of Americans (49%) say they prefer someone in their 50s, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"border-width:1px;padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);--block-gap: inherit\" class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible has-background has-ui-beige-very-light-background-color has-border-color has-ui-beige-dark-border-color\" id=\"how-we-did-this\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/collapsible&quot;}\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;collapsibleId&quot;:&quot;how-we-did-this&quot;,&quot;isOpen&quot;:false}\" data-wp-class--is-open=\"context.isOpen\" data-wp-init--scroll-into-view=\"callbacks.onInitScrollIntoView\"><div class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__title\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.onClick\"><div>How we did this<\/div><button class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__icon\"><span data-wp-bind--hidden=\"context.isOpen\"><i class=\"icon icon-library__light icon__circle-plus\"><svg style=\"width: 1em; height: 1em;\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/plugins\/prc-icon-library\/build\/icons\/sprites\/light.svg#circle-plus\"><\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/span><span data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!context.isOpen\" hidden><i class=\"icon icon-library__light icon__circle-minus\"><svg style=\"width: 1em; height: 1em;\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/plugins\/prc-icon-library\/build\/icons\/sprites\/light.svg#circle-minus\"><\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/span><\/button><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__content\">\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pew Research Center conducted this study to better understand Americans\u2019 views on their ideal age of a president as the 2024 presidential campaign begins. For this analysis, we surveyed 5,115 adults from June 5 to 11, 2023. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center\u2019s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/our-methods\/u-s-surveys\/the-american-trends-panel\/\">Read more about the ATP\u2019s methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are the <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/SR_2023.07.06_president-age_topline.pdf\">questions used <\/a>for the report and its <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2023\/06\/21\/national-problems-methodology\/\">methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-310-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-9852\" href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2023\/07\/06\/about-half-of-americans-say-the-best-age-for-a-us-president-is-in-their-50s\/sr_2023-07-06_president-age_1-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e7dfc9\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e7dfc9;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/SR_2023.07.06_president-age_1.png?resize=480,653 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/SR_2023.07.06_president-age_1.png?resize=620,844 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"422\" width=\"310\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/SR_2023.07.06_president-age_1.png?w=310\" alt=\"A bar chart that shows older U.S. adults are more likely to prefer having an older president.\" class=\"wp-image-9852 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another 24% say it\u2019s best for a president to be in their 60s, while 17% say they should be in their 40s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just 3% of Americans say they prefer a president to be in their 70s or older. An equally tiny share (3%) say it\u2019s best for a president to be in their 30s. (The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.loc.gov\/classroom-materials\/elections\/presidential-election-process\/requirements-for-the-president-of-the-united-states\/\">minimum age<\/a> for a presidential candidate is 35.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The survey asked Americans about the best age for presidents generally. It did not refer to President Joe Biden \u2013 at 80, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2022\/11\/19\/joe-biden-oldest-us-presidents-in-office\">the oldest president in U.S. history<\/a> \u2013 or former President Donald Trump, who is 77.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"age-differences-in-views-of-the-ideal-age-for-a-president\">Age differences in views of the ideal age for a president<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Younger adults are more favorable than older Americans toward presidents being in their 30s and 40s. About half (48%) of adults under the age of 30 say it is ideal for a president to be in their 30s or 40s; only 6% of adults over the age of 50 share this view. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By contrast, older adults prefer a president who is in their 60s or older. For example, 41% of adults in their 50s or older say they prefer a president in their 60s or older. Only 11% of adults in their 30s or younger say the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"partisan-views-of-the-ideal-age-for-a-president\">Partisan views of the ideal age for a president<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democrats and Republicans have similar views about the best age range for a president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-310-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-9855\" href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2023\/07\/06\/about-half-of-americans-say-the-best-age-for-a-us-president-is-in-their-50s\/sr_2023-07-06_president-age_2-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e9e5d9\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e9e5d9;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/SR_2023.07.06_president-age_2.png?resize=480,477 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/SR_2023.07.06_president-age_2.png?resize=620,616 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"308\" width=\"310\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/SR_2023.07.06_president-age_2.png?w=310\" alt=\"A bar chart showing that Republicans and Democrats hold similar views on the ideal age of a U.S. president.\" class=\"wp-image-9855 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are slightly more likely than Republicans and Republican leaners (25% vs. 15%) to prefer presidents in their 30s and 40s, while Republicans are slightly more likely than Democrats to prefer presidents in their 60s or older (32% vs. 24%). However, these minor differences are largely due to the <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2020\/06\/02\/the-changing-composition-of-the-electorate-and-partisan-coalitions\/\">age composition of the parties<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among Democrats, views on the ideal age range for a president are <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2019\/05\/23\/nearly-half-of-democrats-say-the-best-age-for-a-president-is-in-their-50s\/\">similar to what they were during the 2020 presidential election cycle<\/a>. The question was not asked of Republicans in the 2019 survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Note: Here are the <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/SR_2023.07.06_president-age_topline.pdf\">questions used<\/a> for the report and its <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2023\/06\/21\/national-problems-methodology\/\">methodology<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When asked about the ideal age of a president, around half of Americans (49%) say they prefer someone in their 50s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":658,"featured_media":9859,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-07-06T16:53:15Z","apple_news_api_id":"f69eedae-bda3-46e2-a4e4-53cd90b714d7","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-07-06T19:20:00Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A9p7trr2jRuKk5FPNkLcU1w","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"apple_news_api_pending":"1713063297","relatedPosts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0},"categories":[208,90,88],"bylines":[935,575],"collection":[],"datasets":[2442],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[520],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-8026","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comparison-of-age-groups","category-generations-age-politics","category-leaders","bylines-amina-dunn","bylines-katy-lin","datasets-american-trends-panel-wave-129","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-politics"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":466,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2023\/07\/06\/about-half-of-americans-say-the-best-age-for-a-us-president-is-in-their-50s\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":9859,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/SR_23.07.05_PresidentAge_topic.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/SR_23.07.05_PresidentAge_topic.png?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":9863,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/SR_23.07.05_PresidentAge_crop.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/SR_23.07.05_PresidentAge_crop.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"caption":"","chartArt":true},"A3":{"id":9863,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/SR_23.07.05_PresidentAge_crop.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/SR_23.07.05_PresidentAge_crop.png?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"caption":"","chartArt":true},"A4":{"id":9863,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/SR_23.07.05_PresidentAge_crop.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/SR_23.07.05_PresidentAge_crop.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"caption":"","chartArt":true},"XL":{"id":9859,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/SR_23.07.05_PresidentAge_topic.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/SR_23.07.05_PresidentAge_topic.png?w=720&h=405&crop=1","width":720,"height":405,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"social":{"id":9864,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/SR_23.07.05_PresidentAge_feature.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/SR_23.07.05_PresidentAge_feature.png?w=1200&h=628&crop=1","width":1200,"height":628,"caption":"","chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Americans most likely to say the best age for a president is in 50s","description":"When asked about the ideal age of a president, around half of Americans (49%) say they prefer someone in their 50s.","og_title":"About half of Americans say the best age for a U.S. president is in their 50s","og_description":"When asked about the ideal age of a president, around half of Americans (49%) say they prefer someone in their 50s.","schema_type":"Article","noindex":false,"canonical_url":"","primary_terms":{"category":88,"formats":467,"regions-countries":515,"research-teams":520},"custom_schema":[],"twitter_title":"About half of Americans say the best age for a U.S. president is in their 50s","twitter_description":"When asked about the ideal age of a president, around half of Americans (49%) say they prefer someone in their 50s.","og_image":9864,"twitter_image":431766,"indexnow_submitted_at":null,"gsc_index_status":null},"prepublish_checks":{},"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"relatedPostsOrdered":[],"bylinesOrdered":[{"key":"_kmh07qd81","termId":575},{"key":"_irw5o8ej7","termId":935}],"acknowledgementsOrdered":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/8026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/short-read"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8026"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/8026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23875,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/8026\/revisions\/23875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8026"},{"taxonomy":"bylines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bylines?post=8026"},{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=8026"},{"taxonomy":"datasets","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/datasets?post=8026"},{"taxonomy":"_post_visibility","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_post_visibility?post=8026"},{"taxonomy":"formats","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/formats?post=8026"},{"taxonomy":"_fund_pool","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_fund_pool?post=8026"},{"taxonomy":"languages","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/languages?post=8026"},{"taxonomy":"regions-countries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions-countries?post=8026"},{"taxonomy":"research-teams","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-teams?post=8026"},{"taxonomy":"workflow-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/workflow-status?post=8026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}