On Sunday, America will experience a unique moment in its history – when a sitting president turns 80 years old.
Administration aides would certainly prefer the other big family celebration at the White House this weekend — the wedding of President Joe Biden’s granddaughter, Naomi — to get most of the headlines.
The political sensitivities of having an octogenarian in the Oval Office mean there’s unlikely to be any big news about the birthday — unlike when President Barack Obama turned 50 while in office and threw several parties, including one that included a mosque for re-election fundraiser with Herbie Hancock and Jennifer. Hudson.
Biden entering his ninth decade will only bring new speculation about whether he will run for re-election — a decision he says will be made with his family. The president said it is his intention to seek a second term, but that after a life scarred by personal tragedy, he is a big respecter of fate. Whatever happens, the issue of the president’s health and sanity is sure to be at the center of any 2024 campaign — both because Republicans will put it there and because it’s a legitimate concern for voters to determine the size of their commander-in-chief.
Biden’s birthday comes at a time when the question of how old is too old to serve in top political leadership is coming under renewed scrutiny.
On Thursday, for example, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 82, announced she would step down as the leadership as the Democratic Party moves into the minority in the next Congress.
“For me, it’s time for a new generation to lead the Democratic Caucus that I respect so deeply,” Pelosi said in a speech that felt like a moment when an era had come to an end.
After two decades at the top of her party in the House, Pelosi did something that is fundamental to a democracy’s ability to sustain and regenerate — she voluntarily stepped down — an honorable tradition that President George Washington started when he declined to seek a third term . But Pelosi also implicitly raised the question of whether now is the time to hand over power and responsibility to younger colleagues — is it time for others to do the same?
After all, the alluring idea of a generational torch being passed has been a powerful symbol in modern American history – and fueled the rise of presidents like John Kennedy and Bill Clinton, for example. And the tragic truth about American politics is that decisions are being made on issues like climate change, foreign policy, and health care that will reverberate for decades to come that top leaders will not live to see.
But the old guard is still in control right now.
Two days before Pelosi’s announcement, a slightly younger political titan, Donald Trump, said that at age 76, he was far from ready to retire. The former president has launched a campaign for another term in the White House that would take him well past his 80th birthday if he wins the 2024 election.
In the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who is 80, resisted an attempt by a younger colleague — Florida Sen. Rick Scott, 69 — to unseat him for the leadership position. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is celebrating a Democratic victory in the midterm elections that will keep the party in the House, is a comparatively young buck at 71.
In some ways, the courage and drive of older leaders is admirable at an age when many people are long retired – and it sets an example to society that older people are just as capable and worthy as younger generations. The elixir of strength that drives them to endure the indignities and limelight of a political career remains a wonder. Biden, for example, who has spent most of his adult life chasing the presidency, just returned from a grueling trip to Egypt and Asia. The flight home on Air Force One alone took 24 hours.
But the prominence of seventy- and eighty-somethings at the top of the political tree also raises questions about whether it’s healthy that younger politicians aren’t at this time in American history assuming more responsibility or wielding more power. There is a sense that no political party has done a good job of grooming more young heirs, a scenario that risks creating further distance between politicians and the rising generations. That could be a particular problem for Democrats, as CNN’s midterm exit polls showed 55 percent of the party’s voters were 18 to 44 years old. The majority of GOP voters – 54% – were over 45.
Institutional political traditions are also a barrier to youth – especially in Congress where power is based on seniority that takes years of hard work to acquire.
At the same time, however, younger politicians may also need to look in the mirror. The reason Biden, Trump, and Pelosi are still the most powerful leaders in the country is that, so far, no younger, dynamic, historic figures have emerged from below to force them off the stage. Biden and Trump battled younger opponents in their presidential primaries and proved themselves to their own voters. Pelosi’s ability to hold her caucus together and support Democratic presidents has made her an icon in her party, and aside from a few bouts of grumbling from younger subordinates, she has avoided serious leadership challenges.
Here’s an indicator of the lack of up-and-coming talent in the Democratic Party: The most energetic campaigner in the midterms was from a younger generation — but having already served two terms in the White House, former President Barack Obama served underscore the lack of top talent on the bench. Democrats.
Meanwhile, Trump may have more to fear than a young hypocrite.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 44, was born in the 1970s — a time when the most recent Republican president filled the tabloids as he parlayed his reputation as a wheeler dealer and New York playboy. (When DeSantis was born in 1978, Biden was already in his second term in the Senate. If the Florida governor were to win the GOP nomination and face Biden in a general election, the president would face the unenviable prospect of standing on a debate stage with an opponent who was about half his age.)
Trump’s early announcement of a third presidential campaign this week failed to unite the party around him, amid mounting criticism that the former president’s electoral refusal was responsible for quelling a GOP red wave in the midterms. Trump’s best hope, however, is that his fervent voters could see any attempt by De Sandis, who roared for re-election last week, to oust their hero as a betrayal.
That’s one reason why DeSantis, who finally has time on his side, may ultimately decide to jump into the 2024 race. But there are already signs that the post-Trump generation of politicians wants to take his movement forward.
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem have all been mentioned as possible heirs to his throne — though there is no indication that the former president is ready to give it up.
A better-than-expected performance by Democrats in the midterms helped ease some of the questions about Biden’s decision to run for re-election. The position of the president is also helped by the lack of clear successors.
Democrats are worried about Vice President Kamala Harris’ prospects if Biden doesn’t step up, after her botched election in the 2020 primary and her uneven performance in office over the past two years. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has been the star of this campaign, but his path to the Democratic nomination looks rocky. The midterm elections brought a couple of up-and-coming Democratic candidates – Michigan’s re-elected Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania’s new governor – Josh Shapiro. But there isn’t exactly a generational star like Obama waiting to rise to power. and there is no compulsion for Biden to step down because a younger leader is waiting in the wings.
However, polls this year consistently indicate that Americans do not want a rematch between Trump and Biden. And in interim exit polls only 30% of respondents wanted the president to run for re-election. However, with a 40% approval rating in these exit polls, he is slightly more popular than Trump who only had a 38% approval rating among all voters.
In her resignation speech on Thursday, Pelosi reminded us that “scripture teaches us that for everything there is a season.”
However, her passing is unlikely to stop other senior political leaders from trying to defy time.
