Man, that was quick.
The quest to win the presidency at an age when he would be too old to be a commercial airline pilot or even a judge in some states has already led Mr. McCain to adopt a more grueling campaign schedule, and a more vigorous style, than several of his younger rivals. Now that Mr. McCain is the presumptive Republican nominee, political analysts say, his age will most likely factor into his selection of a running mate.
Some suggested Mr. McCain might want to tap a younger running mate to balance the ticket, particularly if he were to face a young opponent like Mr. Obama, 46. Others said his age would simply heighten his need to choose somebody whom voters would feel comfortable with as president should anything happen to him. (Not to be morbid, but eight vice presidents have succeeded presidents who died in office.)
Yes, eight presidents have died in office:
1841 William Henry Harrison
1850 Zachary Taylor
1865 Abraham Lincoln
1881 James A. Garfield
1901 William McKinley
1923 Warren Harding
1945 Franklin D. Roosevelt
1963 John F. Kennedy
But four of those were assassinated (Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Kennedy). So you’re really only talking about 4 where death in office was of natural causes.
Well, and let’s be even more exacting–of the four who weren’t assassinated, McCain is already older than each of them were at the time of their deaths. Harrison was 68, Taylor 65, FDR 63, and Harding 57. McCain is already older than the oldest elected president we have ever seen, Reagan, who took office at 70.
McCain is a man who endured a war and endured POW captivity. He has endured three melanomas, a rare and distressing number of separate cancers. He has a well-documented temper problem.
Really, his health issues should have come up long before now. The office does terrible things to even younger men–look at Bill Clinton in 1992 and look at him in 2000; he had aged a sight more than eight years in his time there.
George W. is the only president in recent memory who looks better going out.
Why is that, d’ya suppose?
To continue with the exacting, although McCain is older now (71) than the four presidents who died of natural causes were at the times of their deaths (68, 65, 57, 63) life expectancy has changed.
Life expectancy for a white male in the US today is a bit over 77 years.
In 1841, when Harrison died at age 68, it was less than 40.
In 1850, Taylor at 65, it was still under 40.
1923, Harding at 57, it was ~57.
1945, Roosevelt at 63, it was ~65.
(http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/haines.demography)
So all of those died before expected, while McCain has another 6 years to go.