We often view politicians as people that make a lot of money to not get a lot of things done. We find them to mostly be lazy, silver-tongued hacks. But not all politicians spend their mandate raking in the cash and leaving little to no impact on policy issues. In fact, some politicians visibly lose several decades of their lifespan by being in politics, and it shows visually.
Let’s take a look at some famous politicial leaders and how they looked before and after their mandates.
Emmanuel Macron
The French president was always a jolly guy that seemed to be in control of things, but the last few years his age just boosted forward a full decade. I guess that’s the price a man pays for having to carry the entire EU on his back now that Merkel has been replaced by the tamest political leader Germany has had in half a century.
Barack Obama
It’s hard to imagine that the difference between these two pictures is only eight years, but Obama sure came out of his presidency a different man than he started. Trying to reform a country like the United States is no small feat and it’s a shame to see so many of the things he did being overturned, but we’ll always remember Obama as one of the greatest presidents of his nation.
Volodymyr Zelensky
We hope it’s not the end of his term because this man has won the hearts of the entire world, but boy does he look a lot older and weary now. Being attacked by Russian invaders probably isn’t the best recipe for a good night’s sleep. We can only hope that the war ends soon and the Ukrainian people can recover from this situation.
Bill Clinton
Another important president in recent US history, Bill Clinton’s aging in office was most apparent by his hair pretty much turning into solid white. The Lewinsky scandal he was caught in probably didn’t help all that much.
Angela Merkel
Speaking of Merkel – she served a whole wopping 11 years in office and if you compare her before and after pictures, this looks like an entire generational skip. You can definitely see the toll of a decade at the highest level of politics in her face.
George Bush Sr.
Another US president where we can clearly see that the presidency isn’t a seat to be taken lightly. Granted, ol’ George Sr. was already an old man when he took office at the ripe age of 65, but considering how his term was only four years instead of the usual eight you’d expect from a president, the difference is quite baffling.
