Biden at 80: A 'respecter of fate' mulls 2nd White House bid - Danbury News Times

CALVIN WOODWARD, ZEKE MILLER and NATHAN ELLGREN, Associated Press

Nov. 19, 2022Updated: Nov. 19, 2022 10:09 a.m.

The oldest president successful U.S. history, Biden hits his milestone day astatine a idiosyncratic crossroads arsenic helium and his household look a determination successful the coming months connected whether helium should denote for reelection. He’d beryllium 86 astatine the extremity of a imaginable 2nd term.

Biden aides and allies each accidental helium intends to tally — and his squad has begun quiescent preparations for a run — but it has often been the president himself who has sounded the astir equivocal. “My volition is that I tally again,” helium said astatine a quality league this month. ”But I’m a large respecter of fate."

“We're going to person discussions astir it,” helium said. Aides expect those conversations to prime up successful earnest implicit Thanksgiving and Christmas, with a determination not until good aft New Year's.

Biden planned to observe his day astatine a household brunch successful the White House connected Sunday.

To observe Biden astatine enactment is to spot a person pat a storehouse of cognition built up implicit a fractional period successful nationalist bureau arsenic helium draws connected heavy idiosyncratic relationships astatine location and abroad, his mastery of argumentation and his familiarity with however Washington works oregon doesn't. In short, the contented of the aged.

“There is thing to beryllium said for experience,” said Dartmouth College historiographer Matt Delmont arsenic helium noted the dozens of planetary leaders successful their 80s.

But to observe Biden is besides to spot him locomotion present often with a halting gait, successful opposition to his trotting connected signifier connected predetermination nighttime 2020.

It is to spot him instrumentality a walk connected a ceremonial meal with different satellite leaders without a existent explanation, arsenic happened connected his travel overseas this past week, erstwhile helium doubly spoke of visiting Colombia erstwhile helium meant Cambodia. Some supporters wince erstwhile helium speaks, hoping helium gets done his remarks OK.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision, astatine property 82, to propulsion backmost from enactment and fto a caller procreation emergence whitethorn spill implicit into Biden's reasoning and that of his enactment arsenic Democrats measurement whether they privation to spell with a proven victor oregon crook to the vigor of youth.

Among the questions Pelosi's determination raises, said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, an authorization connected governmental communications astatine the University of Pennsylvania: "Even if 1 is highly competent and successful, is determination a constituent astatine which 1 should measurement speech to springiness others the accidental to pb conscionable arsenic others stepped speech to marque it imaginable for you to bash so?

“Pelosi’s determination makes specified questions much salient successful the discourse of Biden’s 2020 connection that helium was the span to a caller procreation of leaders.”

Biden’s verbal flubs person been the worldly of fable passim his five-decade governmental career, truthful sussing retired the interaction of property connected his acuity is simply a guessing crippled for “armchair gerontologists,” arsenic Dr. S. Jay Olshansky, an aging expert, puts it.

In the distorted mirrors of societal media commentary, each gaffe is magnified into expected impervious of senility. A infinitesimal of soundless reflection by Biden successful a gathering is presented arsenic the president nodding off. All of that went into Donald Trump's quiver of falsehoods erstwhile helium announced Tuesday helium volition question the presidency again.

Some allies spot Biden's blunders arsenic an expanding vulnerability successful the eyes of voters arsenic he's grown older.

In an AP VoteCast survey of the electorate this month, afloat 58% of voters said helium does not person the intelligence capableness to service efficaciously arsenic president. That was a grim representation of his lasting now, not conscionable looking up to different imaginable term. Only 34% said he’s a beardown leader.

Those findings travel alongside notably debased support ratings successful league with Trump’s astatine this constituent of their presidencies.

Two months earlier the 2020 election, Olshansky, astatine the University of Illinois, Chicago, published a insubstantial that predicted some Biden and Trump were bound to support their bully wellness beyond the extremity of this statesmanlike term.

Based connected a technological team's valuation of disposable aesculapian records, household past and different information, the insubstantial further concluded that some men are astir apt “super-agers,” a subgroup of radical who support their intelligence and carnal functioning and thin to unrecorded longer than the mean idiosyncratic their age.

Nothing has changed Olshansky's caput astir either of them.

“While President Biden whitethorn chronologically beryllium 80 years old, biologically helium astir apt isn’t,” helium said. “And biologic property is acold much important than chronological age." He calls Biden a “classic illustration of everything that’s bully astir aging ... and truthful his age, I think, should beryllium astir wholly irrelevant."

Biden is already successful the nine of precocious achievers for radical his age. Unlike 92% of radical 75 and implicit successful the U.S., helium inactive has a job, not to notation a mightily demanding one.

And he’s been connected a roll. The November elections produced the champion effect for a Democratic president’s enactment successful midterms successful decades — contempt the poison pill of precocious ostentation — arsenic Democrats kept power of the Senate, narrowly mislaid the House successful defiance of expectations of a rout, and won respective competitory governors’ races successful cardinal states.

The president besides sealed a drawstring of consequential legislative victories successful caller months, connected climate, infrastructure, wellness attraction expansion, subject assistance to Ukraine and more.

Biden says helium begins astir days with an 8 a.m. workout, erstwhile helium is usually joined by his idiosyncratic trainer and carnal therapist, Drew Contreras, if helium doesn’t thrust his Peloton bike.

“If I fto it spell for a week, I consciousness it,” helium told the “Smartless” podcast recently. “I utilized to beryllium capable to spell for a week and thing would change.”

White House aides accidental Biden reads his briefing publication heavy into the night, holds intensive evening meetings with advisers and has ne'er balked astatine their scheduling requests that whitethorn person him retired late, though seldom up early.

Yet his aides are profoundly protective of the president, particularly with his nationalist schedule, which is lighter than those of Barack Obama and George W. Bush, some acold younger successful office. They’ve shielded him from ceremonial interviews and, until recently, property conferences.

To his doubters, helium says: “Watch me.”

Biden has been diagnosed with respective precise communal age-related wellness conditions, nary causing him superior problems.

In his November 2021 summary of Biden’s wellness aft the president’s archetypal afloat carnal successful office, Dr. Kevin O’Connor noted Biden’s gait had go somewhat stiffer, thing doctors ticker for successful older patients arsenic it could awesome a autumn risk.

But aft testing, the doc concluded it’s mostly owed to ongoing “wear and tear” arthritis of the spine, arsenic good arsenic compensation for a breached ft sustained a twelvemonth earlier and the improvement of “mild peripheral neuropathy” oregon subtle harm to immoderate sensory nerves successful the feet.

Experts accidental property is not destiny; what matters is bully health, fittingness and functioning. Japanese climber Yuichiro Miura had capable of those attributes to marque it to the apical of Mount Everest successful 2013 astatine property 80, mounting a grounds that an 85-year-old Nepali antheral died trying to interruption successful 2017.

Growing aged is inexorable — astatine immoderate pace, it comes.

It came astatine 1 gait for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, for example, and it's coming astatine different for Pelosi, who is different instauration successful town.

“What’s incorrect with me?” Marshall asked upon his determination to discontinue from the Supreme Court astatine property 82, earlier answering: “I’m old. I’m getting aged and coming apart.” (He died 2 years later.)

At the aforesaid age, Pelosi buzzes Capitol hallways successful precocious heels, outpacing overmuch younger people. And her cognitive abilities person ne'er been successful question.

The sound against her was that she blocked the highest ambitions of generations of younger lawmakers earlier her determination this past week not to question reelection arsenic House Democratic person erstwhile Republicans instrumentality control.

Supreme Court justices, shielded from the electorate and bosses, tin turn arsenic aged successful the occupation arsenic they privation and arsenic destiny allows — and they thin to instrumentality around. Justice John Paul Stevens retired successful 2010 astatine property 90, attributing his determination to a tiny changeable portion speechmaking his Citizens United dissent from the bench.

Ruth Bader Ginsberg, a hugely consequential 80-something, fell 3 years abbreviated of her extremity to beryllium arsenic aged arsenic Stevens connected the bench. She died successful September 2020.

In democracies, wherever voters are the boss, and successful autocracies, wherever they're not, plentifulness of radical successful powerfulness worker connected successful their precocious years, adjacent if fewer are up determination similar erstwhile Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who became the world’s oldest person astatine 92 and is moving to get the bureau back, astatine 97.

Much of the enactment successful the U.S. Congress is implicit 70, particularly Democrats, and truthful were Biden's main rivals successful the 2020 Democratic primaries and Trump.

Attribute that, successful part, to expanding longevity.

“Life expectancy backmost astir 1900 successful the United States was astir 50,” Olshansky said, “and we added astir 30 years” since.

In Cockeysville, Maryland, extracurricular Baltimore, Nelson Hyman, 85, and his wife, Roz Hyman, 77, recognition Biden with getting large things close and particularly with appointing a beardown team. To these Democrats, that adds up to an effectual presidency that taps the worth of property successful a nine that often doesn't.

“I’ve ever felt the president is arsenic bully arsenic the radical that helium appoints, and I deliberation he’s appointed immoderate very, precise bully people, precise competent people, and helium uses them,” said Roz, a retired counsellor successful a psychiatric hospital.

“Now, are you going to inquire me, is helium going to beryllium competent successful 2 years? Who knows? I don’t know.”

A president tin lone beryllium conceptual, said Nelson, retired from an security career, “and the item radical volition instrumentality attraction of the details.” When Russia's Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, helium said, Biden stepped up, ”spoke beautifully and strongly" and "has not been acrophobic to woody with Putin. Not astatine all.”

They recalled seeing Ronald Reagan conflict successful his 2nd term, earlier helium was diagnosed with Alzheimer's aft helium near office, and felt that he, too, had surrounded himself with competence, arsenic overmuch arsenic they disagreed with his direction.

Jamieson, manager of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, said Reagan posted large achievements adjacent erstwhile his representation whitethorn person been slipping, successful portion due to the fact that his aides were beardown and accomplished and Reagan retained the values that informed his judgments.

That's existent of galore presidents, Biden included, she said. Trump, successful contrast, preferred a squad mostly of acolytes.

But erstwhile a cognition does instrumentality clasp successful the public, immoderate slipup tin provender it, whether it is applicable oregon not.

When Biden tumbled connected his bicycle successful Delaware successful June, his ft oregon feet caught successful the pedals' cages, the mishap fed the cognition of a president not astatine the apical of his crippled physically.

“Those of america that cognize a small astir aging were beauteous impressed by the information that helium was connected his bicycle to statesman with ... that you’ve got idiosyncratic who is truly progressive and steadfast for his age," said Olshansky. Instead, the absorption was connected his injury-free fall.

Ageism pops up successful campaigns adjacent erstwhile opposing candidates are some aged themselves; witnesser Trump's references to “Sleepy Joe” successful 2020 and Biden's characterization of Trump arsenic “mentally deranged.”

But it was peculiarly pronounced successful the 2008 statesmanlike contention betwixt Obama, 47 successful that fall's campaign, and Sen. John McCain, past 72.

When Obama misidentified the metropolis helium was in, the flub was attributed to a agelong time by a nation-trotting barnstormer, Jamieson said. When McCain did that, it was his age.

The Obama run exploited the property spread successful what Jamieson said were underhanded ways. She noticed and, with her method team, confirmed that successful astatine slightest 2 ads, recordings of McCain had been slowed down to marque him dependable mentally feeble.

But the sharpest cracks astir property came from McCain himself.

“Good evening, my chap Americans,” helium said connected “Saturday Night Live." "I inquire you, what should we beryllium looking for successful our adjacent president? Certainly idiosyncratic who is very, very, precise old.”

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Associated Press writers Mark Sherman and Lauran Neergaard contributed to this report.