As our leaders, including President Biden among others, and their health declines, some refuse to depart from public life
America’s aging leaders are becoming a concern.
President Joe Biden is 80. If Biden (seen above in a U.S. Gov’t. photo) is re-elected in 2024 and serves the entire four years, he would leave office at 86. That’s amazing, when you consider it for a second.
Former — and hopefully not future — President Donald Trump is 77. If he pulls a Grover Cleveland and returns to the White House and serves a full term, he would be 82 at the end of those four years. And you think he isn’t very sharp now!
The latest example of our gerontocracy is Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, 81, who once again froze in public. During an event in his native Kentucky on Wednesday, the very senior senator, now in his seventh term, froze while standing before a battery of microphones.
It was the second time McConnell has stopped talking and seemed unwell in public. The first was on July 26 in Washington, D.C., with his fellow Republican Senate leaders surrounding him. He later returned to the podium, saying he was fine.
McConnell has fallen at least three times this year, and was hospitalized in March with a concussion and fractured rib.
If McConnell does step down — or is forced to leave the Senate for health reasons, does that mean Sen. John Thune, who is now second in Republican Senate leadership, moves up? Two other Johns, Sen. Cornyn of Texas and Sen. Barrasso of Wyoming, might seek to lead the GOP.
In 2004, Thune defeated the only South Dakota senator to lead his party in the Senate. Tom Daschle, who was a senator for three terms, was both the majority and minority leader during his years as the top Democrat.
George McGovern and Tim Johnson, both Democrats, served 18 years in the Senate, but neither were in leadership positions. Republican Larry Pressler also was a three-term senator, but he also never rose to the top of the party pyramid.
Thune tied Sen. Karl Mundt as the only four-term senators in South Dakota history. Mundt also never served as a Senate leader, although he was an influential figure for years, serving as a mentor to a young California Republican named Richard Nixon.
Mundt was another politician who would not leave office even when he was unable to serve. On Nov. 23, 1969, Mundt suffered a major stroke that robbed him of the ability to speak.
Despite this, he would not resign. He never appeared in public again, did not return to the Senate, and left South Dakota with essentially one senator for more than three years. Even when his fellow Republicans stripped him of all committee assignments, he would not relinquish the title. His decline and the retirement of two Republican congressmen at the same time allowed Democrats to make unprecedented gains in political strength in the state.
Tim Johnson also suffered a major health crisis while in the Senate. He suffered a debilitating brain hemorrhage during a conference call with reporters on Dec. 13, 2006, and barely survived. But Johnson, a strong, determined man, endured months of therapy and returned to the Senate in 2007.
He was re-elected in 2008 and served out his third and final term despite the physical challenges he faced, but chose not to run again in 2014. Johnson, who now lives in Sioux Falls, still makes an occasional appearance at South Dakota Democratic Party events.
The most striking example of someone refusing to exit public life despite their obvious frailty and inability to actually do the job is Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The California Democrat is 90 and has repeatedly shown she is unable to comprehend where she is, what is happening and how she should respond.
In early August, she fell in her San Francisco home and was briefly hospitalized.
But she will not retire.
It’s not as if she is crucial to the Democratic Party holding power in an evenly divided Senate. If she resigns, retires, or, yes, dies, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, will appoint another Democrat to the seat. Newsom said he would only select a Black woman to serve as the temporary senator until the 2024 election. Several prominent California politicians are lining up to run next year, with U.S. Reps. Katie Porter and Adam Schiff have already declared their candidacy.
If Feinstein departs, this would be the second time Newsom filled a Senate seat. Kamala Harris resigned after she was elected vice president, and Newsom named California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to fill the post. Padilla is, surprisingly, the state’s first Latino senator.
This is what happens when someone just will not retire. Because of their name recognition, the huge pile of money they can easily obtain and an experienced staff, politicians can remain in office long after their sell-by date has passed.
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, who turns 90 on Sept. 17, continues to serve and appears in robust health. I covered an event he held in Le Mars, Iowa, on Tuesday, Aug. 29, and Grassley’s voice was strong, he was quick-witted and seemed completely in command of multiple topics.
This despite suffering from a case of Covid in 2020 and a fall at home in January that left him with a broken left hip. Grassley told me the main change for him is that now he walks a couple miles every morning instead of running them.
Can he serve another six-year term? He pledges to do so, and won’t dismiss the chance he runs again in 2028, which means he could be a senator at the age of 102!
Some get it, however.
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was 82 when she relinquished her leadership role on Nov. 17. Pelosi, now 83, did remain in Congress, where she still has a voice and vote.
“With great confidence in our caucus, I will not seek reelection to Democratic leadership in the next Congress. For me the hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus that I so deeply respect,” she said in a speech on the House floor. “I’m grateful that so many are ready and willing to shoulder this awesome responsibility.”
She had led the House Democrats for two decades, becoming the most powerful and influential woman in American history. But she also knew when it was time to step aside and let others lead.
McConnell, who still hasn’t said if he will run for an eighth term in 2026, needs to come to that realization soon. His time is about up, and it should end with whatever dignity he can display, rather than standing frozen and speechless.
Tom Lawrence has written for several newspapers and websites in South Dakota and other states and contributed to The New York Times, NPR, The Telegraph, The Daily Beast and other media outlets.
