I turned 65 yesterday. Earlier this month I signed up to the hugely popular and effective government-run National Health Plan. THANKS!
This milestone anniversary got me thinking about aging in general, and in particular the most common concern I hear about a second term for President Biden. “He’s too old!”
I have come to believe that his age is perhaps one of his best qualities. If you’re a rabid Trumper, I’m not going to change your mind. If you want to discuss Biden’s policies, and especially denigrate them, do it elsewhere. I want to think specifically about age, leadership, and trust.
Generally speaking, I wish the baby boomers would all get out there and play pickleball. Give someone else a chance. It is really no surprise that the largest and most important generation of all, who so desired to lead, are unable to let go of the reins.
That said, Biden’s age makes me like and trust him. This shapes the way he leads. The best description I can come up with is that he seems comfortable in his own skin, probably in a way we haven’t seen in a president since Reagan – he himself, then, is not a young .
I am sixteen years Biden’s junior, but I see a similar comfort and confidence in myself as I get older. I’m not as worried if my hair looks wonky. I don’t need to participate in conversations about the latest trends or the future of my denomination. I didn’t completely ignore them. I am not fossilized. But the things that were once so urgent are no longer so. Popularity and image matter less. I detect something similar in my good friend, Bob Dylan, who, at 82, tours almost non-stop and releases wonderful, obscure 8-minute songs that will never be hits.
Sometimes this attitude is described as “I don’t care.” It’s wrong. Of course I care. Biden cares. Dylan cares. These are probably different concerns, or maybe different things. These are not particularly original and a bit abbreviated, but — satisfaction more than winning, relationships more than principles, expectation more than repair. There is not the same anxiety, the same effort. There is a comfort, a peace, a rhythm. It is both resignation and confidence.
Think of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, younger men when they were president. Bright, charming, smart, elegant, innovative. Personally, I have never been a Clintonite, but my admiration for Obama remains intact. In each of them there was a little side, some might call it arrogance, a need to make history, to be dashing, to read the best books, to talk to the most brilliant artists, to know emerging economic theories.
This is what irritated their detractors. I can understand why they felt resentful and jealous. It was easy for many to hate Clinton and Obama with a burning passion.
Hating Joe Biden is like hating the school custodian, the night nurse, or your plumber. They are good, solid people who are doing their best. Not necessarily inspiring, but competent, more professional. They know their job and they do it. No glamour.
With Clinton and Obama, it seemed like everything was prefixed with “neo.” Not Biden. It’s just adequate, competent and lackluster. If there is anything, it may be a neo-New Deal.
If you are between 30 and 55 years old, I do not consider you immature or unqualified to lead. But you still have things to prove. You are concerned about your trajectory. And you should be. Admit it or not, recognition and reputation matter. And yours are still in development.
Many of you are so full of ideas, energy and compassion that you give me hope for the future. There’s a spring in your step, but a little awkwardness also remains. You’re a new pair of shoes – shiny, you want to be fashionable, but you’re still working on a few pinch points. Biden, Dylan, me, we are old shoes, a little worn, but comfortable, walking more uninhibited and probably able to walk further than you think. (Actually, I’ve been wearing slippers about 90% of the time since Covid! Maybe that proves my point.)
In four years, I hope there will be no more baby boomers running for president and, before too long, no more octogenarians in the Senate (or in the pulpit, for that matter). But there is now. So rather than viewing Biden’s age as a disadvantage, I will view it as a quality well suited to these times.
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Nota Bene: I have not discussed Biden’s policies and record. If you need it, go elsewhere. That’s not what we’re doing today. We have a fairly lenient commenting policy here at Reformed newspaper. Today, it’s not as lenient. If you want to drop your Let’s Go Brandon nonsense, or bring up the economy, foreign policy, immigration, Hunter Biden, or senility, your comments will be deleted. If you would like to think and discuss aging, leadership, and the qualities you see in older and younger leaders, share your thoughts below.
Two small points of personal privilege. No one in my state of Iowa can make disparaging remarks about Biden’s age. In 2022, we elected an 89-year-old senator for a six-year term! And as for the scare tactics about “the likelihood of a Kamala Harris presidency,” they are nothing more than not-so-veiled racism and misogyny. Whatever your opinion of the vice president, she is no more or less qualified, no more or less dangerous than Quayle, Gore, Cheney or Pence.
