Do presidents age faster in office?

President Barack Obama has had the weight of the free world on his shoulders for the 21/2 years, and he might be starting to look like it.

At 50, which he turned yesterday, his hair is a little grayer, and his face and neck are a little more creased, than on the day he took office in January 2009.

You'd expect some of that -- he is older. But Obama, like his predecessors, has had plenty to do. He's waged battles over economic stimulus, health care and the debt ceiling. He's juggled wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; he committed to a campaign over Libya's skies; he chased Osama bin Laden; and he dealt with a massive oil disaster off the Gulf Coast.

Editor's Comment
BPF should get house in order

Speaker of the National Assembly, Dithapelo Keorapetse, has this week rightly washed his hands of the mess, refusing to wade into a party squabble that has no clear leadership and no single version of the truth.When a single party sends six different letters to the Speaker’s office, each claiming to be the authoritative voice, it is not just confusion, but an embarrassment.Keorapetse is correct to insist on institutional boundaries. Parliament...

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