In 1949, Konrad Adenauer was elected West Germany’s first chancellor. Elected at age 73, he continued to serve in the position for the next fourteen years and resigned at age 87. To this date, Konrad Adenauer is the oldest head of government to have served in any Western country. Joe Biden, the current president of the United States, is running for re-election in 2024. If elected for a second term, he will turn 82 two weeks after Election Day and finish his term at age 86. He still would not break the age record set by Konrad Adenauer.

Konrad Adenauer – nicknamed Der Alte

Der Alte translates to “the Old One.” When he was first elected at age 73, it was widely speculated that Adenauer would only be a caretaker chancellor. Instead, he proved to be an astute politician and was re-elected three times (1953, 1957, and 1961). He held the office of Germany’s chancellor throughout much of the Cold War and led the country from the ruins of World War II to democracy, stability, and economic prosperity. During his fourteen years in office, he oversaw the establishment of West and East Germany in 1949 during the Allied occupation after World War II. He witnessed the East German uprising of 1953, and came to grips with the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961. Konrad Adenauer had to relinquish the chancellorship one year before the end of his fourth term due to a scandal and petty rivalries. He remained the head of his party until his retirement at age 90.

Konrad Adenauer, German Chancellor form 1949 to 1963. Adenauer is on the right, Ludwig Erhard is on the left. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany. Credit: KAS-ACDP/Peter Bouserath, CC-BY-SA 3.0. DE, www.walled-in-berlin.com

Is Age a Liability or a Strength for Heads of Government?

Currently, U.S. politicians of both parties and the electorate debate whether an octogenarian leader is less likely to be up to the task, or whether advanced age might benefit his/her judgment that a younger president cannot match. At this point, the oldest U.S. presidents were Ronald Reagan at age 77 plus 349 days, Donald Trump at age 74 plus 220 days, and Dwight D. Eisenhower at age 70 plus 98 days. If Joe Biden were to be re-elected for a second term, he would be the oldest president in U.S. history. The same would be true of Donald Trump if elected. He would be 78 ½ on Election Day and finish his term at age 82 ½.

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: Historic or current events, people, places or food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall, and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.