Can John McCain Survive the Presidency? Longevity Calculator Says Yes

The question of John McCain's age has repeatedly been raised. If elected President of the United States he would be the oldest President ever to start a first term. Is it likely that he would survive the office? He currently is seventy-one years old.

Only eight presidents have died in office out of forty-three Presidents to date. That works out to about eighteen percent. The oldest President to take office was Ronald Reagan, who was sixty-nine years old. While Reagan's age was also an issue when he ran for President, he was elected to a second term. He was also shot while President and still survived two terms. Both Reagan and Ford were ninety-three when they died.

The president that lived to the oldest age was Gerald Ford, who edged out Ronald Reagan by only forty-five days. Surprisingly, the third longest living was John Adams who died in 1826.

Perhaps the question of whether John McCain is likely to survive the office, can be answered by using a longevity calculator. Information for McCain was entered into the Life Expectancy Calculator on the MSN Money website. His current age, height and weight were entered. John McCain is five feet seven inches tall. His weight was estimated at one hundred-sixty pounds with an average build. His current actual weight was unknown pending a scheduled release of his medical records next month.

A question asked by the Life Expectancy Calculator for John McCain: "how would a friend describe you? "Aggressive, intense and quick to anger" was chosen over "easy going and relaxed."

The question of "Do you smoke marijuana once a week or more?" was marked "no" for McCain.

After all the questions were answered, the calculator came up with a life expectancy of 102 years. Assuming a mistake was made, the answers were reviewed and a few changed to see what would happen. The calculator still estimated that McCain would live to 97.

The estimate of almost a hundred years of life for John McCain might not be off the mark. His own Mother is still alive.