Everyone who watched the first Presidential debate saw it: the impact of aging on President Joe Biden. It was so apparent that it may change the course of history—by him potentially either being replaced on the Democratic ticket or by him losing the Presidential race due to his visible diminishment.
It’s not like those of us 81-year-olds know Biden personally, but we do know from personal experience the impact that age can have on nearly all our capacities: physical, mental, and emotional. Personally, at age 81, I know I am a very different person than I was even a couple of years ago and I cannot even speculate what I will feel like a couple of years from now. Life expectancy charts will not tell us our own fate. The only thing we know for sure is that we will not get younger, nor will we live forever. That much is written in stone!
What is quite well established is that becoming this old takes its toll in many ways on both our bodies and our minds. Everyone is different and occasionally we may identify someone who seems to coast into their 80’s and possibly even into their early 90’s. But even so, should such a person be endowed with making potentially life altering decisions for our nation? Shouldn’t he or she be expected to “pass the torch” to someone decades younger with the wisdom, stamina, and experience that the nation expects — and needs — of its president?
What we saw in the first debate — halting speech, imprecise answers, emotional flatness and even some odd facial expressions at times — was deeply concerning. It was not the kind of performance that one would expect from the leader of the free world — the person who makes decisions daily which have enormous potential consequences for the rest of us.
From my personal perspective, the impact of the decision to run for reelection is multiplied enormously by the greater potential that it will allow an incompetent and corrupt political opponent to win the election — a concern shared by a majority of our American populace.
President Biden is not mentally ill or emotionally disturbed as far as I can determine. But his decision to pursue another term as president which would begin when he is over 82-years-old is part of his compulsive nature to achieve something important daily. This is clearly different from what ordinary people may feel as reflected by something attributed to the entertainer Charlie Chaplin when in his 80’s: “The six best doctors in the world are: sunshine, rest, exercise, diet, self-esteem, and friends. Life is just a journey: live today!”
Perhaps President Biden should himself reflect on this.
Dr. Hugh Winig is a retired psychiatrist, a longtime OLLI @Berkeley member and volunteer, and a regular contributor to the OLLI Blog.
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