In the six elections from 1972 to 1992, 21 Democratic presidential candidates (35 percent) were under 50, while 11 (18 percent) were over 60. Meanwhile, since 1972, the average age of Republicans running for president has been 59 — four years older than their Democratic counterparts. Finally, 18 times a president has run for re-election as the oldest of that year’s major-party nominees, prevailing 14 of those times (78 percent).