CANDID COMMENTS ON POLITICS AND AGE

 CANDID COMMENTS CONCERNING AGE AND POLITICS

               Let me begin this little dissertation by stating that I do NOT intend to vote for either of the major party candidates in this election, but my decision in that regard has nothing to do with the age of either candidate. In all candor, I do wish that neither of them had run for office this time, and because of their age, but my opinion in that regard is not because I consider that either of them necessarily would be incapable of filling the office at some point during their terms because of cognitive issues. We will return to this point shortly.

              In the first place, the President does not “run” the United States. In the Department of Defense alone there are (according to the internet) 3.4 million military and civilian employees. Even that small slice of the government is vastly too big to be “run” by one person. At best the President lays out the broad strokes that he intends to guide the country within his sphere of authority, and appoints capable people to run the different departments, and then reviews their performance from time to time, just as the CEO of any company would do.

              One of the most admired companies in the world is Berkshire Hathaway, which has 396,000 employees. The CEO of Berkshire is Warren Buffett, who currently is 93 years old. Now, I don’t know the man personally, and he may be completely senile by now, but people are still investing in Berkshire, so the public has that much confidence in his ability, at least. Keep in mind that executives really do not DO anything; their job is to see to it that things get done, and even most of that “seeing to” is delegated to other people.

              I am old enough that I can remember clearly the presidency of Ronald Reagan, and I consider him to have been one of the better Presidents during my lifetime. However, Reagan left office in January of 1989, and it was generally acknowledged that he was by that time largely a figurehead and that Mrs. Reagan and the cabinet were playing a vastly larger role than was the case in his first term in office. But the Republic survived, and in fact, did fairly well. I have seen nothing in either of the major candidates that indicates they are less functional than Mr. Reagan appeared to be by the end of his second term in office.

              The reason that I said that I wish neither of the major party candidates had run for office is that, while they may be functionally able do their job, statistically they are much closer to NOT being able to continue in office due to death or disability, and whether it be in business or government, uncertainty is one of the principal villains. Watch what happens to the stock market when it is not sure what the Fed is going to do. No matter what the Fed does, if investors are fairly sure about it, they can adjust their responses and make do, but if they have no idea what the Fed will do, they are left hanging, and investors very quickly get cold feet if they are unsure of the future.

              Anytime a President is removed from office for whatever reason, the nation is thrown into a state of flux and uncertainty, and not just in the stock markets. Vast departments of the government must function temporarily without a leader. Foreign powers may be able to make bold moves during the vacuum in leadership, before the new President can get his people and policies into place. Imagine being in the shoes of President Harry Truman on April 25, 1945, when he first learned the full details of the atomic bomb and had to take over the command of the U. S. military in the middle of a World War. By that time the victory was largely won, but what if President Roosevelt had died two years earlier?

              I will turn 71 years old in August, and my cognitive skills are definitely declining, as they generally are in anyone my age. (Just ask my wife for confirmation of that fact.) Still, I do have enough mental acuity remaining to write an article of this nature, and to continue my responsibility of setting the standards and moral guidelines of my household.

              Yes, I certainly wish that the major party candidates for President were younger, and any deficiencies they may have mentally are indeed a problem. I have a problem remembering certain things, but that usually is not a crisis because I have a wife who takes care of reminding me about things. (I try to return the favor, and we have managed to survive.) My declining memory IS a problem, but it is not yet such a problem that I intend to abdicate my household responsibilities. The President of the United States has access to a vast array of talent to help him in whatever capacity he needs, in matters both great and small. President Franklin Roosevelt’s health was failing during World War II, but he had as his personal Chief of Staff the most senior military official to have served during that War, that being Fleet Admiral William Leahy, so things did not fall apart as the President declined.

Yes, if he lives long enough any person’s capabilities will reach a point at which he does not need to be in a position of large responsibility, but I see no evidence that we are to that point in this election. Whatever reservations I have regarding the two major candidates fall under headings other than Cognitive Ability.