It is ironic that despite its scorn for North Korea and the tradition of secrecy that shrouds the health of its top leaders, the US appears to be going down a similar path with its political leaders. While the partisan US media has been questioning the lack of a proper bulletin on the condition of Republican presidential contender Donald Trump after the failed assassination attempt, there is less than optimal information on the health parameters of incumbent President Joe Biden.
As there is a visible change in Trump’s demeanour after an assassin’s bullet clipped his right ear, an update on his mental state after that near-miss is certainly warranted. He seems mellowed, subdued, quieter, even reflective. Although the media seems less concerned about his overall well-being than a more popular political personage, the impact of that event cannot be discounted. The nation—the US—needs to know to what extent he has been affected by this ordeal.
But even more imperative are medical updates on the man who still has control over the nuclear balloon but cannot remember the name of his own Secretary of Defence or a Supreme Court justice’s full name. Whether Biden remains in the race or steps aside in favour of someone younger and compos mentis, he will still be in charge of the US at least till January 2025 and (supposedly) taking decisions that can have wide-ranging consequences. So his health is a crucial matter.
Yet, the media and commentariat in the US is focusing voter attention only on the fact that he is doing well after being diagnosed with Covid-19 yet again. Despite having taken multiple booster shots of the vaccine in the past four years. The only question being mildly raised is whether he has the stamina to keep up with the pace of the Presidential elections. They are glossing over the more important issue of Biden’s fitness to handle the day-to-day challenges of his high office.
Stumbling and shuffling while walking, a very visible stiffness in his arms and legs, wooden smiles and all-too-frequent moments of blank incomprehension on his face do not portend well for a man who is one of the world’s most powerful leaders. That the White House is behaving as if “aall izz well” is even more alarming in that context. One commentator observed that not since the Nixon era has the White House been so busy hiding information about a President.
It is as if the Biden clan and White House officials willed the US—the mainstream media at least—to ignore evidence of his decrepitude. His decline did not happen overnight, yet it may not have come into focus at all had he not flubbed the debate with Trump on primetime TV so spectacularly, forcing the media to take note. Media posited every stumble of Trump while in office as evidence of debility, but Biden’s procession of fumbles and tumbles had always been downplayed.
The decline in Biden’s physical—and by implication, possibly mental—fitness has been obvious for years, so the secretive attitude of his close confidantes is confounding. While it may not be ‘elder abuse’ as some have alleged, the danger of a President not being at the top of his game is manifest. There is no problem with your average Grandpa being creaky and forgetful, but if that old man also happens to be POTUS, it becomes a matter of international consternation.
There are precedents of US presidents not being open about their health. No one knew then, for instance, that John F Kennedy was taking a strong cocktail of steroids to deal with health issues though he exuded an image of robustness. And Franklin Roosevelt took great care—with the cooperation of the media—to keep his wheelchair mostly out of sight of the public and conducted a very successful political career ending with his winning the Presidency a record four times.
In fact, Roosevelt’s time has some curious parallels with the current situation in the US. His health began to fail at the end of his third term due to heart disease, yet he was adamant about contesting. Democratic Party leaders were worried about his chances, but his vice president was not seen as a viable replacement candidate. Roosevelt stayed as the candidate, the veep was replaced and he won again. But just a year into his fourth and final term, he died due to a stroke.
The Soviet Union was the most well-known for hiding health issues. For years the politburo hid the fact that Leonid Brezhnev had issues from arteriosclerosis to arrhythmia. As the media was state-controlled, there was no discussion of the times he was visibly disoriented and fatigued. That led to speculation about his death several times before he actually passed away. Even his successor Yuri Andropov’s kidney failure was also never mentioned publicly till he died aged just 70.
Josef Stalin’s massive stroke was kept a secret for a day and there were no updates till he died four days later. His death was only announced after a delay of six hours. Later leader-dictators of post-Soviet nations followed the same mantra of secrecy about their health, such as Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan and Heydar Aliyev of Azerbaijan. The health of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was never allowed to be discussed and his death was announced two days later.
The reason is clear: unwell leaders cause unrest among the people. The Soviet Union was a closed society, so the silence of the establishment and the media was only to be expected. But the US is a democracy with a supposedly free and fearless media. So why has no one in mainstream media raised the question of Biden’s competence to remain in office, much less run for another term? It seems they are all mindful of the possibility that Biden’s infirmity might help Trump win.
After the disastrous debate in June, Biden had said “only the Lord Almighty” could convince him to quit his re-election bid. Some are predictably interpreting his latest bout of Covid-19 as a message from that supreme entity to do precisely that. However, he still has over five months left of his term in the White House. If it is just not about winning but being able to execute the office of President from 20 January 2025 onwards, what about from now up to that date?
The author is a freelance writer. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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