Editorial | Exit Biden

US President Joe Biden surrendered to reality on Sunday when he announced that he would not seek re-election in the 2024 presidential race. He did it with grace, saying he was placing country above ambition.

Biden’s long-term dream of serving two terms as the country’s leader ended abruptly, after he was forced to face the uncomfortable truth of dwindling re-election prospects and concerns about his stamina and mental acuity.

Before that, Biden had sworn that he would not drop out of the race, “unless God himself told him to do so”. He also declared that he was 100 per cent all in.

However, on Sunday, he announced on social media: “While it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.”

And, in an 11-minute speech from the Resolute Desk on Wednesday, Biden explained that he was putting personal ambition aside in the competition for the “soul of America” as it seeks to perfect its union.

Based on his record, it was felt that Biden had a good shot at re-election, particularly with the economy expanding by 2.8 per cent annualised rate in the second quarter. Accustomed as he is to pushing back against naysayers all his life, and enduring hard personal knocks, Biden stubbornly resisted calls for him to step aside.

But, as he stumbled through press encounters and struggled to remember names and figures, his cognitive decline made him the butt of jokes and subject of memes. Then, his lacklustre performance and incoherent sentences during the presidential debate in June amplified these concerns, and the chorus for him to pass the torch grew louder, even among allies, donors and supporters.

It has been a tumultuous summer for Joe Biden. Finally, he has demurred. It must have been a humbling moment for him. Did he wait too long to make this decision? Perhaps, for he has given his party a mere four months to organise around a new candidate, who herself would be breaking new grounds as a black woman.

The advanced age of politicians is noticeable in the American system, more so than in other nations. And speaking about age is taboo. Last year,an opinion poll conducted in Washington DC found that 79 per cent of Americans favoured a maximum age limit for elected officials. And, according to the Census Bureau, the median age in the US is 38.9 per cent, while the average age in the US House and Senate is 58 and 64, respectively.

It is not unknown for declining leaders to be protected and shielded by those in their inner circle. But they do a disservice to the public by remaining in office when they ought to retire. Retirement must be recognised as a life event, ranking right along with marriage, graduation and birth of children. It should not be equated with death.

Age is an asset, but it is only an asset until it ceases to be. The reality is that decline in physical and mental health is inevitable as people grow older.

As global eyes remain trained on Washington DC, in this election season, the irony is that the American voters still have an old guy – Donald Trump, 78 running for presidency. If one of his allies had her way, Trump would have to submit to a compulsory mental competency test, as would all elected politicians who are 75 and over.

Mental and physical acuity are valid factors for voters to consider.