LETTER: Of presidents and mental decline

There have been several commentaries in the Review-Journal, as well as letters to the editor, expressing emotions regarding President Joe Biden’s mental state as he left office. Suddenly, fitness for the office of president has become a concern to some people.

It was clear that President Biden aged tremendously in that office. Those burdens clearly took a toll on the man. Having read a minimum of two biographies on every U.S. president, as well as some of the other Funding Fathers, I’ve learned of and witnessed what the the presidency can do to a fully engaged person. Most people who held the office were worn and aged at the end of their terms, but there are exceptions: Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump. If you were to read any of the biographies of Mr. Reagan or Mr. Bush or listen to the members of Mr. Trump’s first administration, you would know these men were not intellectually engaged in the office and were “led” through their terms.

Mr. Biden is a good and decent man, traits that no longer seem important to a lot of people. He selected members of his administration for their competence and not specifically for their loyalty to him. So whatever outrage about what could have happened because of President Biden’s mental state is clearly lost on what is happening in the current administration.