Will we ever have a Gen X President? (If so, please NOT Cruz, Hawley or Desantis!)
A leadership cliff is coming, and I found the data to prove it
We in Gen X have always been the “Jan Brady” neglected middle sister of generations—our pop culture and politics were handed down from our Boomer elders for most of our lives. And now the Millennials are coming up behind us, in ever greater numbers than the Boomers. Now that we are all grown up, ages 42-57, are we GenXers in the positions of power we should be in by now? I have always had the hunch that we were not, and now I have found data that really shows how our political pipeline has been hollowed out in at least one very important American institution, the US Senate. This has implications for a “leadership cliff” that we are facing in the next few decades.
Let’s start with a story that is very easy to remember: In 1992 Bill Clinton was hailed as a bright young President, definitely a new generation, with the theme song “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow.” At age 46 he was definitely a fresh contrast to the 2 previous Republican Presidents, George HW Bush and Ronald Reagan. Here’s the thing though: after Clinton, George W. Bush was also born in 1946. Barack Obama was turning a new page, born in 1960. But then….Donald Trump was born in 1946 as well. And President Joe Biden is 4 years older. It feels like Groundhog Day, doesn’t it? The birth year stays about the same as the young President Clinton’s generation has staying power for 3 decades. Will we ever have a Gen X President, or will it skip over us to the Millennials? That is the dilemma that will be showing up in so many jobs over the next few decades. Gen X has a deep well of knowledge experience to offer, and we need to be more intentional about using that expertise—use it or lose it. Gen X is a vital bridge-builder, as part of a leadership coalition for the coming decades as well as helping manage a graceful transition for the Millennials to assume leadership roles.
It’s Groundhog Day: Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Donald Trump were all born in 1946.
Let’s look more at my proposed “leadership cliff.” Being a scientist, I wanted to test my idea that Gen X was not rising to political power in proportion to our population, and also in fewer numbers relative to previous eras. I found a wonderful interactive data set showing the ages of each class of US Senators. I chose the Senate of 1993, harking back to the Bill Clinton era, and compared it to the Senate of 2021.
In 2021 there were 19 Gen X Senators, plus the first Millennial, Jon Osoff. That makes Gen X 19% of the Senate, when we are about 34% of the population who is eligible to be Senators, people 30 and over. That is definitely under-representation. But what if the US Senate has always been the “elder statesman” legislative body (one of the many ways it is not very representative of the overall American people)? Looking back at 1993, there were 49 Senators ages 42-57, the age that Gen X is now, and 2 younger! Those Senators included 50-year-olds Joe Biden and Mitch McConnell, so we can see that yes, who serves during the prime ages of 42-57 can literally have decades of effects on our country’s leadership.
These findings suggest that we are missing over half of the Gen X Senators who should be serving now!
In 2020 we had several talented Democratic Gen X candidates, including Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Julian Castro, Beto O’Rourke and Andrew Yang. Vice President Kamala Harris misses being a GenXer by 1 year, and I would certainly be happy to claim her as one of us!
There are some real “gems” on the Republican side, Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley, and Ron DeSantis to name a few. Being a GenXer doesn’t automatically mean you are a good person.
I have always felt that we as Gen X are a bridge generation, and also a generation that has created opportunities in open niches. We may not have occupied many Nightly News anchor chairs like Brian Williams, but GenX anchors fill the entire MSNBC lineup from 4 pm to 10 pm: Nicolle Wallace, Ari Melber (on the bubble of Millennial), Joy Reid, Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow. There are tons of amazing Gen X podcasters, professors, and journalists, too many to name here, but some who sounded the alarm very early in the Trump crisis include Sarah Kendzior, Andrea Chalupa and Timothy Snyder. Those who join them in that work today include Allison Gill, Zev Shalev, Lincoln’s Bible, Greg Olear, Cheri Jacobus and Kimberley Johnson. (They had a great “super group” New Year’s special over on PREVAIL.)
Podcasting and social media are spaces where can create your own opportunities. And in the civil service realm, during events like the impeachment hearings, heroes we previously didn’t know, such as Alexander Vindman, spoke up to try to save our democracy.
Gen X is out there, working diligently, creatively. Also perhaps burned-out, exhausted, discouraged. We need to keep raising up Gen X leaders in politics and beyond. The Millennials are amazing! I have always admired them since I taught high school to that cohort and saw how smart, creative and caring they are. They were nearly-digital natives (computers but not cell phones or social media!) and their younger siblings are equally smart and caring. But they are going to have a heap of problems laid at their feet to solve, issues like climate change that they did not create but nonetheless have to deal with. All of us “elders” have to help with the transitions and problem-solving to come.
Your action steps:
If you are a GenXer, keep looking for leadership opportunities, including local advocacy, nonprofit boards, corporate boards, or elected office. It is not too late for any of us! Nancy Pelosi was first elected to Congress at age 47.
Becoming an empty nester is a great time to get involved in politics and activism, since you may finally have more free time again.
If you are recruiting candidates, don’t forget about GenX even as you see younger leaders who might look more exciting, the next “shiny new Mayor Pete.” (And kudos to Pete Buttigieg for getting more experience that will help him run for higher office again one day.)
All of us should be mentoring the Millennials and GenZ. Make sure it is a two-way street, a true collaboration, because we have a lot to learn from each other! We are going to be in this together for a long time, confronting challenges like shoring up democracy and civil rights, providing health care, and protecting our environment.
I have made friends of all ages by training in martial arts. Many of my teachers are 20 years younger than me, and some are 20 years older. I also learn a great deal from my young-adult son. Any opportunity we have to be in community learning together is a good thing!