President Joe Biden's age has become a “hot topic” as the media (including the Baltimore Sun) keeps bringing it up (“Overcoming ageism in politics and beyond,” April 14). Republicans are being cautious on the issue and want to let “comrades” like Jonah Goldberg and Bret Stephens take the lead, because if Donald Trump is elected president in 2024, he will be the oldest person ever elected to the US presidency, along with Biden.
As for Biden, the broadcast media seems to like the long footage of him walking slowly and deliberately to the podium, but pays little attention to what he says once he's there. Our age (I'm in my 80s myself) should be considered an advantage, not a disadvantage. Biden has been in Washington for many years. He witnessed firsthand events that most Americans only know from history books. Much of that history is questionable, written by history graduate students seeking new and compelling views on events for their dissertations.
Biden and our fellow octogenarians remember Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson not as historical figures from long ago, but as flesh-and-blood presidents who stood at the podium, remember when Eisenhower's chief of staff, Sherman Adams, was chased out of Washington, DC, for being given a coat as a gift, and can compare that to the level of corruption that pervades the U.S. Congress today.
We have followed the Shakespearean tragedy of Richard Nixon. Nixon's crimes, serious as they were, pale in comparison to Trump's illegal acts. President Biden remembers all this and more. It will be a big part of his governance. A younger candidate may indeed bring energy and enthusiasm to the presidency, but not the wisdom of 50 years on the job. I choose wisdom.
— Jim Dempsey, Edgewood
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