• Former President Jimmy Carter has expressed doubts on whether he would have been able to handle the presidency at age 80, saying the job requires being "very flexible with your mind" and suggesting that there should be an age limit. Carter, who turns 95 next month, was asked during an event Tuesday at the Carter Center in Atlanta what it would take for him to run for president again. The questioner noted that Grover Cleveland had served two nonconsecutive terms in the late 19th century. "I hope there's an age limit," Carter said with a big grin as he sat next to his wife, Rosalynn Carter. "You know, if I were just 80 years old, if I was 15 years younger, I don't believe I could undertake the duties that I experienced when I was president," he said. "For one thing, you have to be very flexible with your mind. You have to be able to go from one subject to another and concentrate on each one adequately and then put them all together in a comprehensive way." Carter did not mention any of the current presidential candidates in his comments, but two leading Democratic contenders -- former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. -- would turn 80 while in office if elected. Question's about Biden's age and mental acuity, in particular, have become part of the conversation in the Democratic nominating process. Biden is currently 76, while Sanders is 78. "One of the major factors I will have in my mind is who can beat [President Donald] Trump," Carter said, referring to the current president, who is 73.
• University of California President Janet Napolitano is stepping down from the post in August 2020. Napolitano made the announcement Wednesday at a meeting of the university's board of regents in Los Angeles. A former U.S. secretary of homeland security and Democratic governor of Arizona, Napolitano became the first woman to lead the 10-campus University of California system in September 2013. "My time at UC has been deeply gratifying and rewarding. I have been honored and inspired every day to serve this institution alongside incredibly dedicated, passionate people," Napolitano said in a statement. "The decision was tough -- and this moment, bittersweet -- but the time is right." Her statement did not elaborate on reasons for her departure. Napolitano, 61, has battled a recurrence of breast cancer over the years. Napolitano has overseen an expansion of the university system, rising student enrollment, a push for immigrant-student rights and sexual misconduct policy reform. She's also been criticized for her office's financial management and accusations that she improperly interfered to tone down critical comments from campus administrators.
A Section on 09/19/2019