Avram, I agree that we value age, even without wisdom. Gemora in kidushin seems to leave it ambiguous do we primarily honor wisdom or stam old age, as every old person acquires experience that is worthy honoring… Definitely, many people write that the current president showed empathy by relating to either his tragic family or people he met, including Holocaust survivors..
Still, when we elect a person who was not bright when he was young and in middle age, he gets set in his ways and prone to flattery and start acting with hubris, leading to disasters.