News flash ā President Joe Biden is old and tired.
The calendar says heās 80 years of age, and if you watch him for a while youāll see heās every bit the octogenarian.
Iām not mocking him, just stating facts about a man older than any previous president.
And those facts no doubt have the White House concerned about a new book to be published next week, āThe Last Politicianā by Franklin Foer.
Despite tight security around the book about Bidenās first two years in office, a copy was obtained by The Guardian.
āIn private, he would occasionally admit he felt tired,ā writes Foer of Biden, whose āadvanced years were a hindrance, depriving him of the energy to cast a robust public presence or the ability to easily conjure a name.ā
āIt was striking that he took so few morning meetings or presided over so few public events before 10 a.m. His public persona reflected physical decline and timeās dulling of mental faculties that no pill or exercise regime can resist.ā
But we all can see that.
Foer cites no source for private statements by Biden, but publisher Penguin Random House said his book is based on āunparalleled access to the tight inner circle who have surrounded Biden for decades,ā according to The Guardian.
Bidenās age has been an issue since he first ran against former President Donald Trump in 2020 and, after being declared the winner, assumed office as the oldest president in U.S. history.
More than three-quarters of the public consider Biden too old to serve four more years, according to a survey released last week. Even among Democrats, 69 percent believe Biden is too old.
The critical view of Bidenās age in Foerās book comes despite the authorās progressive credentials, including having once been editor of the leftist New Republic.
But even as he points to Bidenās physical and mental decline, Foer says his age served him well in the Ukranian proxy war.
In that war, āthe advantages of having an older president were on display,ā Foer writes. āHe wasnāt just a leader of the coalition, he was the Westās father figure, whom foreign leaders could call for advice and look to for assurance.
āIt was his calming presence and his strategic clarity that helped lead the alliance to such an aggressive stance, which stymied authoritarianism on its front lines. He was a man for his age.ā
However, even Foer must admit that Biden has said some goofy things throughout his career due to āindiscipline and indecision.ā And Iāll not go into Bidenās career-long demonstrations of lack of character.
Now, there were attempts to make age an issue with President Ronald Reagan.
When Reagan, then at 73 the oldest president in history, was asked in a debate about his age, the Republican solemnly replied, āI will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponentās youth and inexperience.ā
While Democratic opponent Walter Mondale good-naturedly joined in the uproarious laughter that followed, he later said he knew at that moment he had lost the election.
While some questioned Reaganās mental acuity in the closing years of his presidency, it was clear to the public that he was on top of things.
Itās obvious Joe Biden is not. He often appears slow, confused and, in his own words, according to Foer, ātired.ā
This is a problem not only for Democrats, but for the nation. And the world.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
