How Old is McCain?

It is characteristic of a certain generation that we all remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when we heard that President Kennedy was shot. That was November 1963, almost 45 years ago.

How long ago was that? 45 years earlier than 1963 was 1918. Woodrow Wilson was President. The Great War (it didn't become World War I until there was a World War II) was being fought. The Tsar had been overthrown and Lenin had just come to power in Russia. Henry Ford was making Model-T's. Television and the Great Depression were still decades in the future. Movies had just been invented, were black-and-white, and silent. Ty Cobb hit .382 and Babe Ruth was still a pitcher for the Red Sox.

When my family came to California in 1947, it had been a state for 97 years. Today our star has been on the flag for 158 years. We have been here almost 40 percent of the time California has been a state.

John McCain is 71 years old. He was born in 1936. 71 years before 1936 was 1865. The armies of Grant and Lee were hammering at each other in Virginia. There were slaves in the South, Rhett Butler had not yet told Scarlett O'Hara that he didn't give a damn. Automobiles, telephones, and electric lights had not been invented. Germany and Italy were both collections of little princedoms. Ships were made of wood and had sails. No one had been permitted to enter or leave Japan in 300 years. Victoria was Queen of England and Empress of India. The sun never set on the British Empire which included a quarter of the world's area and a quarter of its population, and was the largest empire in human history. Napoleon's nephew, Napoleon III ruled France. The Ch'ing dynasty ruled China. "Immigrants" meant the Irish. Wyoming had not yet been organized as a territory. Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico were still foreign countries. The flag had 36 stars. California was reached from the east by covered wagon or by clipper ship Around the Horn. The Sioux had not yet gone on the warpath against Custer and the 7th Cavalry. Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, and Nathaniel Hawthorne were still writing. Mexico had an emperor. Money was coins made of silver and gold. Baseball had not been invented.

The dude is OLD.


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