I began this post just before learning of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. His mortality isn’t at issue here, but Joe Biden’s is.
I am a bit older than Joe Biden. I grew up and graduated from high school in a place that resembles Scranton, Pennsylvania, though it’s not as large.
I have in recent years tracked down all of the members of my high school graduating class, who were born (on average) in 1940. Here’s the mortality curve for the men:
The slope gets slippery 53 years after graduation, that is, in one’s early 70s. Joe (and Donald) are beyond that point. But Joe’s medical condition suggests that he will go first (if assassination is taken off the table) and fairly soon. If his disease doesn’t kill him in a few years, old age will probably do the job.
Politics and Prosperity 