Is Youth an Asset or a Liability to Politicians?

If he wins the presidency, Obama would enter the Oval Office at 47.

ByABC News
January 8, 2009, 1:38 AM

Aug. 3, 2007 — -- Theodore Roosevelt was 42 the day he took the oath of office to become President of the United States. John F. Kennedy was 43. Bill Clinton and Ulysses S. Grant were both 46.

On Saturday, Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill., celebrates his 46th birthday meaning the political wunderkind will be only 47 come election day. And, if elected on that Tuesday in November 2008, Obama would become the 5th youngest president in American history.

The Illinois senator's youthful good looks have led to comparisons, most notably, to John F. Kennedy, the last senator to move directly from a seat in the Capitol to the White House.

Certainly Obama stands out as a young man in his 40s among a field of presidential candidates whose eldest statesmen has nearly three decades on him.

"I don't think an age in the mid 40s is a liability," said Stephen Wayne, a professor and expert on the American Presidency at Georgetown University

"Inexperience with a lot of mistakes with corrections is a liability," said Wayne, referring to some of the recent missteps Obama has made in his campaign.

President Bill Clinton, who won his first elected office at 32, lost the Arkansas governorship to a Republican challenger in 1980. The loss, in large part, was attributed to his age and inexperience, but Clinton bounced back and retook the governor's office two years later.

Clinton served a total of 14 years statewide office, while Obama served as an Illinois state legislator for six years and is now in his third year of his first term as a U.S. Senator.

Using his age as an asset, Obama's campaign has worked hard to reach out to a younger audience for donations and support.

Official candidate webpages quickly popped up on popular social networking sites including facebook.com and myspace.com that are popular with a younger audience.

In a more negative light, Senator Obama has been targeted by fellow presidential candidates and media pundits who cite his political inexperience and question his debate performances.

Obama has increasingly sparred with Senator Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., the Democratic frontrunner in most national polls. Most recently, the two have traded barbs on the issue of nuclear deterrence.