Is It Reasonable To Focus On Biden's Age?

Is President Biden too old to be running for a second term?  You might think so – 81 is a big number, with 85 looming 4 years later.  On the other hand, you might be wrong.

As a physician, I’m used to looking at risk factors.  Being old is just a risk factor, just as being heavy is a risk for diabetes, or getting sunburned frequently is a risk for melanoma.  You’re at risk, but you may have it and you may not.  So we see the risk and we test for it.  

What is the risk for being old?  There is a dreadful stereotype of an “old man,” someone who dodders with a frail body, weak memory, depleted energy, compromised reasoning ability, someone who lives in the past and is liable to collapse at any time.  Let’s call that Type 1 — it exists, but it is not inevitable, just because you’re old.

There is also a Type 2 old man, an “old fox.”  He might be a seasoned leader who resists the impulses of the moment, whose patient judgement weighs alternatives and possible consequences, whose experience enables him to make government work, who knows the people and the terrain of the country and the world, whose years have earned him wisdom.  Think “greatness of spirit” rather than “old and broken.” Think secure and clever and wise.  As Ronald Reagan put it in 1984, “I think it was Seneca but it might have been Cicero who said, if it were not for the elders correcting the mistakes of the young, we would have no state.”  Especially nowadays, in the age of modern medicine, it is increasingly likely that a man of 80 might be this Type 2.

So, just as we observe Biden, is he Type 1 or Type 2?

His stiff walking posture probably betrays some spinal arthritis, which does not interfere with doing the job.  But his health seems excellent otherwise, and there are no reports and no evidence of mental decline.  In fact, his presidency has been the most productive since LBJ, his schedule is more rigorous than George W. Bush’s was, and he travels extensively and meets all over the world.  It’s true that he stumbles over words, but that is nothing new for someone with a history of stuttering.

In short, the evidence we have points to Biden as being Type 2, someone who has grown with age, rather than shrunk.

It’s true, however, that illness can come quickly to an older person.  It is also true, however, that bad things can happen suddenly to younger persons as well — think JFK.  After the Kennedy assassination, Congress passed the 25th Amendment, providing a procedure for replacing an ailing President, whether they recognize it themselves, or whether it is the decision of the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet. Beyond that, staff and advisors function as teammates, supporting and supplementing when health problems arise.  The procedures to take when a President is ailing are there, even though it can be admittedly difficult to administer them.

In addition, we should also think about this - is it reasonable to center our concern on Biden's age, above other considerations?  Yes, there are risks to age, but think of all the other risks that we have with presidential candidates.  Think of everything that can go wrong when you hire someone.  There is alcoholism, depression, anxiety, sleep deprivation, delusions, sociopathy, corruption, chronic anger. Indeed, a candidate might be quite literally crazy.  There is lack of good intelligence, bad work habits, laziness, dishonesty, lying, ties to foreign powers, prejudice.  What about the ability to think through problems, to build a team?  What about breadth of knowledge, a tendency to make a country more peaceful rather than more contentious, knowledge of government operations, executive experience and ability?

Age is but one factor among many, and to focus on that one factor and to ignore the other risks seems unreasonable.  Biden seems to have evaded the bad consequences of aging and has garnered the positives.  Like a well worn shoe, Biden is a known quantity who has proven reliable and effective, even surprisingly so.  We should judge the man by his abilities and his character and his history and the fact that he is Type 2 older person who has gained wisdom, not one who has withered.

The odds are, Biden will still be driving his Corvette wearing his aviators when the next President is sworn in, in 2028.

 

Budd Shenkin

 

Note - a form of this post appeared as an op ed in the San Jose Mercury News on January 11, 2024 -- I thank David Levine for his editorial help, as always.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/11/opinion-is-it-reasonable-to-be-concerned-about-president-bidens-age/