From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishelder statesmanˌelder ˈstatesman noun [countable] PGOsomeone old and respected, especially a politician, who people ask for advice because of his or her knowledge and experience
Examples from the Corpus
elder statesman• In his latter years he took little day-to-day interest in racing, but was seen as an elder statesman of the turf.• These opportunities included being a member of a sixteenth-century religious order, an elder statesman and a doctor.• He was knighted in 1949, then slipped easily into the role of cricketing elder statesman.• Durán, projecting the image of elder statesman, was expected to attract votes from the left in the run-off election.• The installation of the elder statesman Itó Hirobumi as resident 1905-9 marked the significance of the post. 