A Wise Old Statesman or a Selfish Old Con Man?

It seems self-evident, so out there, so in your face — the ludicrously obvious differences between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Yet, I still hear people say, in all seriousness, “oh politicians, they’re all the same, there’s no difference between them, who cares?” Some even like to add a final, one-sided, coup de grace: Besides, Biden’s too old, too out of touch; he’s senile. They don’t say that about Trump, of course, though many shiver when they say his name.  

It’s not just the ageism against Biden that gets to me, but that’s a good place to start. Granted, I’m 83. In mixed-age social situations, I’m getting used to feeling myself vanishing as a person and being replaced by a cartoon of a sad sack, stumbling old guy muttering to himself about his cane. I’m lucky, though. My younger friends reassure me I still have all my marbles. I hope they’re right.

I’m sure 80-year old Joe Biden still has all his too. You don’t give a State of the Union address as powerfully as he just did, all the while winning at political jujitsu against the kindergarten bullies from the GOP, if some of your marbles are missing. It’s not his age. It’s who he is.

Do I think that, at 83, I’m qualified to be president? No. But it’s not because I’m old. I’ve never thought I was qualified to be president. This is not to say, of course, that I’ve ever wanted to be. I haven’t. I haven’t spent my whole adult life in elected public service. I haven’t been a two term Vice President of the United States. Nor have I been a U.S. Senator for 36 years. It’s not my age that disqualifies me in my own eyes, it’s my experience. I have no direct knowledge of governance.

It’s the same for 77-year old former President Trump. As we’ve seen, his experience as a “boss,” a Jefe, a merely rich, or formerly rich, skirt-chasing tycoon and successful, or formally successful, profit seeker doesn’t qualify him to be president either. His four years in the oval office didn’t help a bit. Governance is as foreign to him as straight dealing. He remains contemptuous of the Constitution he’s taken a vow to defend, and even of the most sacred trust of all — honoring the outcome of free elections. It’s not his age. It’s who he is as a person.

Oh, but the pressures of the Oval Office are tremendous for an old person, some people say. True enough. But President Biden has probably the best medical care the world has to offer. He’s attended to by countless political and personal aides. The very nature of presidential delegation mitigates against age being an overwhelmingly debilitating factor, particularly if you’re as healthy as Biden is, and if your doctor doesn’t lie to the media.

It’s the savvy and knowhow about governance that eases the burdens of the presidency. If Joe Biden hadn’t been in public service since 1973, if he wasn’t among the most experienced presidents since FDR, the frailty of his years might be slightly more legitimate. But he’s a pro, through and through.

I’d be more concerned about Donald Trump’s frailties, if I cared about him at all. He seems a physical mess. He remains a rube about the history of American politics and how the machinery of government works. He apparently believes he didn’t take an oath of office to support the Constitution. He sucks up to dictators and dangerous, longtime enemies. He betrays international alliances. He actually considered nuking North Korea in 2017, according to his former chief of staff. He apparently doesn’t understand Mutually Assured Destruction at all. He’s under more than 90 federal and state indictments for fraud, inciting insurrection, and falsifying business documents, among other infractions and felonies. And that doesn’t say anything about his sexism, his racism, or his scary talk about blood baths and retribution. You’ve heard it all, already. It’s not his age, but who he is.

Trump and Biden have nothing at all in common. Biden is a busy, efficient, far-seeing president who gets things done, despite the screaming partisan lock jaws in the House and Senate. His massive American Rescue Plan is a contemporary New Deal. His economic policies have resulted in the lowest unemployment rates in years. He understands international diplomacy as well as anyone in the country.  He’s aggressive and on point about lowering greenhouse gas emissions. He’s solid, dependable, down to earth and presidentially competent.

Age doesn’t make a president wise or stupid. It’s who the president is as a person with power, with ultimate nuclear responsibility, that matters. As far as the bomb, or anything else, is concerned, I’d take a vigorous 110-year old over Donald Trump any day of the year.     

*Nullius in verba: take nobody’s word for it

(Photos by Michael Stokes and Gage Skidmore)