When experience counts, not age

Glen J. Gillette, Las Vegas

Thursday, April 10, 2008 | 2:03 a.m.

In response to Richard J. Mundy’s March 29 letter, “A good man, but too old for the White House,” I have this to say.

He queries whether we would want a 72-year-old pilot at the controls of a plane we were flying in, a 72-year-old driver steering a bus we were taking on an overnight trip, or a 72-year-old surgeon operating on us.

To each of these questions I truthfully will answer yes. I would much rather have the person in charge to be of any advanced age, depending on his or her skill, knowledge and expertise, than a more youthful person who was not prepared to handle the task at hand.

So, in answer to Mr. Mundy’s question, “Do we really want a man of that advanced age in charge of our country and the leader of the free world?” my answer is, considering the alternative, an unequivocal “yes.”