Lincoln had few of the insecurities that hobble far more experienced politicians.
He was 51, just eight years older than I was, but far more experienced as a foreign correspondent.
Even then, as the far more experienced Israelis have learned, Americans will remain somewhat vulnerable to suicidal terrorists.
Most Americans recognize that he is both far more experienced in and knowledgeable about government than Governor Bush.
But Cameron ought to have suspected that the rebel masterminds were far more experienced than the novice backbenchers putting their heads above the parapet.
A certified full-time mohel is usually far more experienced than a doctor who does ritual circumcisions as a sideline or hobby.
But managing a shadow cabinet many of whose members are likely to be not only much older but far more experienced will be difficult.
As well as his presence around the breakdown, a good work-rate and a decent set of hands he is also capable of the kind of dominant hits normally reserved for far more experienced campaigners.
This column does not write about the genre on the grounds that it has not read one since 1987, and that there is a far more experienced critic of this type of book elsewhere in these pages.
Novellie may not have been on the UK scene all that long, yet he has the writing skills of a far more experienced comic, boasting a flair for perfectly chosen language and the ability to land excellent flab-free punchlines.
The man who ran so recently as a "citizen legislator" is headed toward the most challenging and byzantine of political jobs, one that has humbled far more experienced politicians: managing an agonizingly small majority in a profoundly polarized Senate.
