There was a moment on Sunday in London when the media pool camera was trained on President Joe Biden as he signed a Book of Condolences for Queen Elizabeth II. The rest of us could listen in via an open mic.
There was precious little to hear until he finished, when he rose from the chair, looked at his wife Jill who was standing attentively nearby and asked “Where do we go now?”
She indicated the direction and off he they went, probably to view the casket containing the queen’s remains.
It was just a simple moment and meant nothing.
But as an unprecedented number of world leaders gathered in London for the queen’s funeral, I couldn’t help but notice how many of them are older people. For starters, Joe Biden will be 80 in a few months, just a few days after King Charles turns 74.
Biden was the oldest person in U.S. history to take the office of president, by abut a year. Ronald Reagan was almost 78 when he was inaugurated and served eight years.
Without doubt, the older demographic has important things to offer. Some of the temptations of youth can be less powerful by the 70s, presumably, plus it is difficult to sustain those harmful myths of invincibility or immortality that so many younger leaders are afflicted with.
For those reasons alone, older people can potentially make better leaders. But certainly not always. It’s also possible for them to become outdated socially and culturally, and to be so stuck in the past so much they can’t see their way forward.
Or to harden into incorrigible narcissists who are power mad.
But the best members of the aging population can theoretically put self-interest aside to pursue our collective goals and policies as leaders.
There are signs Biden is doing that, particularly lately. His string of political victories is improving life in this country for millions of people and he is speaking out in defense of democracy at a time when it is under true peril.
Of course, the strains of holding powerful jobs are well-documented and it would be a tragedy for a president to die in office.
Roughly five percent of men Biden’s age will die each year, which is a very high death rate, but the positive side of that is 95 percent won’t die that particular year.
Cognitive decline is another issue, however. There were indications this afflicted Reagan in his second term. But as long as that is not happening, an older leader should be judged by his policies, not by his age.
Asking his wife where he was to go next was not a sign of cognitive decline in Biden. But it’s worth noting that at his age, that’s a legitimate topic to consider.
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