WhatsappIt is rare to see Joe Biden in public in the afternoon, and certainly not at night. There is one simple reason for this. The medicine starts to wear off and night times are harder for people who suffer from cognitive decline. Every geriatric doctor and caregiver knows this. Jill knows this too. President Biden is certainly taking whatever potent medicine that allows him to stay as sharp as possible. But, he is absolutely past the stage of being able to handle a workload that is required of the leader of the Free World. It is not just demanding psychologically. It is demanding physically, no matter how many afternoon naps a person takes.
President Biden is not the first President in modern history to serve while unfit physically or mentally. Ronald Reagan was almost certainly at the beginning of his decline in the latter years of his 2nd term. He was quite believable during the Oliver North Iran-Contra investigations because he wasn’t putting on much of a show. When he said, he couldn’t remember details about what had been authorized or not authorized, he was probably telling the truth. And even if he was overstating his confusion, he certainly did not lose his ability to put on a show and keep his sense of humor. He had been doing that for 50 years. So, Reagan came out rather unscathed from a very controversial operation that had probably been authorized by his administration. The so-called “teflon President” walked away without tarnishing much of his record. His place in history as an effective and able President is secure.
Should Reagan have been removed from office before 1988? Probably not. Although the Soviet Union was crumbling at the time, most people did not realize how quickly it would fall, and Reagan’s Secretary of State, George Shultz, and other members of his cabinet were doing an excellent job guiding the fall of the Soviet Union. Perhaps that is a good example of how serving while not being 100% able is not all that bad.
But there is a more problematic situation that could have led the world to disaster. In 1944, FDR was elected to his 4th term. The not-yet-old, but very sick President had guided America through the difficult times of the depression and the first few years of World War II. Despite FDR’s terrible handling of the Jewish refugee issue, he deserves credit for leading America from an isolationist stance into one that understood that the battle against Nazi Germany was truly a battle for freedom vs. tyranny in the world. But in 1944, FDR was barely able to hold a glass of water, despite being sharp mentally. Polio was just one of his many physical issues. There was no way he would serve out his term. The Vice President choice at one of the most critical junctures of history was truly a fateful one. Although the President did not choose the Vice President back in 1944, it was still a choice that the President held major sway over. Yet FDR barely knew Harry Truman before Truman was appointed candidate for Vice President.
Harry S. Truman was actually a compromise dark horse candidate who got the job because he was not unpopular with enough people. What very few people discussed was the seemingly critical detail that the Vice President would probably be leading the United States in a matter of a year or two after the 1944 election. And World War II was still going on in both Europe and the South Pacific. Millions of American soldiers were in danger. The world and the United States were lucky enough that President Truman proved a very able and honest President. But his inexperience did show in his initial meetings with Joseph Stalin. Churchill certainly lost some sleep at night due to that. But in the end, Truman will be judged favorably by most historians.
But what does America and the world have to look forward to if President Biden steps down or is forced to step down? Will Kamala Harris be a pleasant surprise? Is she up to the job? Although she is certainly young and healthy enough for the job, there is very little about her that seems to indicate that she has what it takes to truly run the country and the free world. The Democrat Party, Executive Branch of the United States, and therefore the Free World, is in a precarious situation.
