McCain’s age

I wrote about John McCain’s memoir Faith of My Fathers in “Reading John McCain” and “Reading John McCain, part 2.” One of the things I learned from the book that I had no reason to mention in those posts is that Senator McCain’s grandfather died at age 61, and that Senator McCain’s father died at age 70. I’ve been a bit surprised, as Senator McCain has put his remarkable 95-year-old mother on display during the campaign, that no one has brought up his father or grandfather.
Senator McCain is himself 71. Senator McCain’s age raises not only the question of mortality, but also the more difficult issue of age-related performance. Thomas Sowell tackles the more difficult issue in “McCain’s age.”