Pence versus Kaine: How is their health?

It is amusing how the press and voters got around to considering presidential candidates' health now that we are down to the wire, and there is no time for replacement, should that be necessary. First of all, both Clinton and Trump are about in the same shape.

In my book, How to Select an American President by James George with James Rodger (c) 2016 Archway Publishing (to be released soon), the mental and physical health of candidates is an important consideration because voters should expect them to endure two full terms in office that are an 8-year duration.

Here is something to consider that I did not address in the book, women live longer and tend to be in better shape than men.

In the book, I suggest examining different life cycle scenarios to see how long it takes for genius-level people to produce extraordinary results that are worthy of consideration in qualifying for becoming presidential candidates.

• How long were they earning relevant academic credentials?

• How long did they serve in the U.S. military, if they did?

• What did they invent and create, when, and what was the societal impact on the economy, society, and environment?

Most exceptional people will consume about 57 years of their life racking up superior results before considering public office. At that point, a 57-year-old candidate would be ready for an 8-year sprint, departing office at a spry 65 years.

Candidates entering the highest office at 69-70 years old will be 77-78 years old upon exiting. Now, in modern times, men and women live longer and may be productive longer. However, that depends on upon the rigorous requirements of the job.

Therefore, who are the backup candidates?

Vice Presidents should have been selected by We the People with the same deliberate consideration as given to Presidential candidates. Yet, VPs are a last minute wonder.

Mike Pence and Tim Kaine are about the same age at 57 and 58. Kaine has far more experience and a law degree from Harvard. Pence is trained in the law but has less public experience as he was a talk show host instead. Look at their resumes on wiki.

Who knows about their health?

"So why do women live longer than men? One idea is that men drive themselves to an early grave with all the hardship and stress of their working lives. If this were so, however, then in these days of greater gender equality, you might expect the mortality gap would vanish or at least diminish. Yet there is little evidence that this is happening. Women today still outlive men by about as much as their stay-at-home mothers outlived their office-going fathers a generation ago. Furthermore, who truly believes that men’s work lives back then were so much more damaging to their health than women’s home lives? Just think about the stresses and strains that have always existed in the traditional roles of women: a woman’s life in a typical household can be just as hard as a man’s. Indeed, statistically speaking, men get a much better deal out of marriage than their wives—married men tend to live many years longer than single men, whereas married women live only a little bit longer than single women. So who actually has the easier life?" 

Scientific American

Pence and Kaine, the backups