The Triumph of Joe Biden and Experience
Earlier, on the eve of inauguration day, I watched veteran journalist Sam Donaldson providing commentary on then US President-elect Joe Biden, a mere eight years younger than the octogenarian broadcaster.
I added up the ages of the two. 164.
Once upon a time, the sum may have elicited a grimace from me. But today I can only conclude: Joe Biden is what the world needs to move forward.
I turned 50 recently. The dread that emerged as the occasion neared was not unfounded. Ageism is so entrenched in our culture that it creeps up even among the friendliest of company. The forced optimism of 21st-century society denies its obsession with youth. Yet well-meaning people keep telling me, You are Young at Heart. To which I often wondered, What is wrong with being old? The truth is that Teens Rule. Although don’t tell my own that.
I can imagine now how Biden felt during the early months of his candidacy as he faced constant ridicule. And for what? For surviving. For experiencing. For thriving.
Converts of all political persuasions herald his so-called gift for empathy. I’d argue that Biden himself would see empathy as an ordinary aspect of everyday life and not cause for praise. Not compared to overcoming a speech impediment, family tragedies, multiple elections, Mitch McConnell and one’s own ambitions. That takes some mettle.
Millennials may argue that government needs fresh ideas. They forget that the leaders putting forward these ideas, albeit in collaboration with young advisers, have almost as many years as Biden. Bernie Sanders. Elizabeth Warren. Great ideas are underpinned by decades of knowledge, skills, and experience. Just ask any hip-hop artist sampling the archives.
No one else during the presidential primaries came close in terms of matching Joe Biden’s experience. Yet still, that experience haunted him as ‘age’.
Since the early months of 2020, the world has watched as many of our elders succumb to the pandemic and leave behind a well of lost wisdom. In Joe Biden, I see the triumph of this wartime generation and the determination of millions who refuse to be pegged as near death.
The sunset generation knows well that ambition can be crippling and get in the way of good work. I suspect that, while sitting between the world’s most famous man and then the world’s most famous female politician, Joe Biden thought, Life has been good and I can rest now. Of all the traits that make a good leader, humility may be the hardest to live by. Joe Biden has humility.
And humility is essential to this moment in history. The United States is facing an unprecedented test to its credibility. The nation’s diplomats may find the next chapter challenging. Yet it is rife with opportunity. Countries that once derided America as full of bombast may now see it with kinder eyes. Nations can relate to leaders with setbacks rather than editorships of the Harvard Law Review. Yes, each mistake made by the States can seem gargantuan in the eyes of younger smaller nations. At the same time, it makes them one of us.
That is a gift. The global community is accustomed to publicly looking up at America as the Distinguished Professor of Democracy (caps intended). Behind closed doors, we are not so confident of the example. Now that the veneer has thinned, we can learn from each other’s missteps and continue on the learning journey together.
I can sympathize that some Americans may not warm up to this prospect. I wager that they would regain more credibility, trust, and goodwill with this approach. America, you chose Joe Biden despite your biases. Trust your instincts.
