Eight years leave indelible mark on a president

The Boston Globe has a multimedia feature showing how recent presidents have aged during their terms. Judging from the graying of George W. Bush since 2000, he has felt the pressures of the presidency, too. And Barack Obama had better beware (and stop smoking). “It doesn’t matter if they’re Democrats or Republicans, it doesn’t matter if they’ve been athletes or not beforehand, it doesn’t matter if they were smokers or not. For eight years in office, they age 16 years,” said Cleveland Clinic chief wellness officer Michael Roizen, who has studied how presidents since Theodore Roosevelt have aged.
Similarly, Northeastern University political scientist Robert E. Gilbert said that 25 of 36 presidents from Washington to Nixon died earlier than life expectancy data would have predicted.
But said Leo Cooney, chief of geriatrics at Yale School of Medicine, said “it’s true that when people have the weight of the world on their shoulders, they may get more wrinkles. But the data that this impacts their health is not there.”

13 Comments

  1. Phantom
    Posted January 6, 2009 at 2:04 pm | Permalink

    Bush has left an indelible mark on the nation, a stain for the world to see.

  2. SolDevVB
    Posted January 6, 2009 at 2:06 pm | Permalink

    Damn, imagine what McCain would look like after 8 years in office…

  3. JMWalker
    Posted January 6, 2009 at 2:19 pm | Permalink

    SolDevVB
    Posted January 6, 2009 at 2:06 pm | Permalink
    Damn, imagine what McCain would look like after 8 years in office…
    ===================================================
    Really, not much different:-)

  4. brian_nuevo
    Posted January 6, 2009 at 2:29 pm | Permalink

    “SolDevVB
    Posted January 6, 2009 at 2:06 pm | Permalink
    Damn, imagine what McCain would look like after 8 years in office…”

    It would look like…
    President Palin

  5. SolDevVB
    Posted January 6, 2009 at 2:30 pm | Permalink

    Really, not much different:-)

    How long does formaldehyde last?

  6. gster
    Posted January 6, 2009 at 3:42 pm | Permalink

    I don’t see how Bush could look aged, especially after 8 years keeping his head up his, er, ah, ah, head hangar.

  7. Phantom
    Posted January 6, 2009 at 3:51 pm | Permalink

    Bush has aged Americans, anyone old and wise enough to understand what he’s done

  8. ksfarmgrrl
    Posted January 6, 2009 at 6:25 pm | Permalink

    Wow. All that aging in spite of the fact that bush vacation time set a record for all presidents.

    Worst.president.ever.

  9. TomPaine
    Posted January 6, 2009 at 8:16 pm | Permalink

    John Adams lived to be 90 with 19th medicine

  10. TomPaine
    Posted January 6, 2009 at 8:16 pm | Permalink

    century

  11. Barnie
    Posted January 6, 2009 at 11:02 pm | Permalink

    You mean, Bush is Human???? He didn’t cause Hurricane Katrina after all??????

  12. Monkeyhawk
    Posted January 7, 2009 at 6:43 am | Permalink

    And the Shrub pResidency ruined everything it touched. Even the United States Marines.

    http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2009/01/us_marines_orgy_palace_of_ston.php

    “This is my rifle,
    This is my gun,
    This is for fighting,
    This one’s dripping…”

  13. mom
    Posted January 7, 2009 at 10:36 am | Permalink

    Nobody said Bush caused Katrina – but his lack of timely response will forever be in the minds of the majority of America. And as a result, all Republicans will be paying the price of the Bush Adminstrations’s many failures for years to come.

    Without Bush and Cheney, Barack Obama would not have won by such a large margin.