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Woodrow Wilson suffered a serious stroke, and for the last six months of his Presidency his mind was broken, and his wife ran the country. Franklin Delano Roosevelt suffered several strokes during the last critical year of World War II, and suffered from severe headaches and bouts of paranoia. He died two months after being inaugurated for his third term.

Ronald Reagan, already in his late 70s and feeling the onset of Alzheimer's Disease during his second term, fell asleep at Cabinet meetings, and the former actor and sports announcer had to endure jokes about his diminishing ability to speak coherently.

If John McCain becomes President, the oldest one in history at age 82, will any of those ailments affect him? Considering his vigorous schedule curretly as Senator, speaker, debater and campaigner, my opinion is he is NOT too old to serve as President. If he wins in 2008, and wins a second term, he'll be 80 when he leaves office. Although he seems to be a very vigorous man for his age, he has had recent bouts of cancer and serious health problems that began when he was a young man.

Although it happened more than 30 years ago, there are always questions about how his prisoner of war ordeal still affects his mind and body. A Navy combat pilot during the Vietnam War, he was shot down and suffered serious wounds, including multiple breaks of leg bones. Following his capture, he endured primative surgery and suffered a terrible five years of abuse and torture as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.

Of course, John McCain should be admired and honored for his outstanding service, but the questions of his ability to serve as President will haunt him as he attempts to gain the Republican nomination and beyond. He has also served honorably and ably in the Senate, but has been criticized for his short temper, angry outbursts and independent actions counter to the wishes of Republican Party leaders.

Some may ask whether the hardships he suffered as a POW may have affected his mind, and as he ages, they may become more troublesome, possibly as Ronald Reagan suffered from the onset of Alzheimer's Disease while still in office. Worse, there are some who believe as a POW, McCain may have been brainwashed, in what is called the Manchurian Candidate syndrome.

Therefore, if he becomes President, McCain's mind could be controlled by foreign handlers. While this is totally absurd, and there certainly has been no indication of it while he has serves in the Senate, the whispers could become loud voices if he becomes the Republican candidate for President in 2008.

John McCain has served his nation at least as well as any American alive today. I believe he is perfectly capable of crowning his distinguished career as President. However, during the next year of the Presidential campaign, if and when he realizes his advanced age and physical condition will prevent him in any way from serving fully as President, he will quit the race. Considering the poor quality of most of the other Presidential candidates, I hope it doesn't happen.

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
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