OP-ED: Yes, President Biden, let’s absolutely finish the IMPRESSIVE job you started!
President Biden has officially announced that he was going to run for re-election in 2024.
“Let’s finish the job” is the mantra he has embraced.
Look, I get it. He is too old. He will be 82 years old on Inauguration Day.
Which means, on the following Inauguration Day, when his second term ends (in 2029) he will be 86 years old. So that’s the knock.
Oh sure, there are some things he can be doing better. Additionally, there are some things he needs to finetune, but that is the same with every president.
Nah, it seems to be the age most nay-sayers are hanging their hat on. And to be fair, I think there is a legitimate discussion to be had.
Has it been already forty some odd years since we all thought President Reagan was ancient at the age of 69 when he took office in 1981.
He bypassed the previously oldest president, William Henry Harrison, who did not fare all too well after given the longest inauguration speech in presidential history, was ill-dressed in the cold weather, caught pneumonia, and died.
As Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “To be seventy years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old.”
The pessimist will miss the point and say “Yeah, but he’s 80.”
President Biden came into the greatest fracturing this nation has seen at the point of Inauguration than any other president save for Lincoln.
He was sworn in, less than two weeks after an attempted coup.
While Lincoln could have gotten some needed help had his predecessor taken some action, any action, to circumvent the secession and winds of war, Biden’s predecessor was the person who orchestrated the coup and caused the rifts.
Because of such inaction, James Buchanan, a more than qualified person to have become president, is often thought of as the worst president this nation has ever had, though that is surely up for debate now with Trump entering the discussion.
And if inaction, in time of a great need for leadership can afford you the title of “worst president” ever, then taken appropriate action in time of crisis must be a positive, right?
Think about it for a minute. Lincoln comes in just before the first shots of the U.S. Civil War are fired, FDR comes in during a depression, Ford enters after a president step down, Obama comes in just as the housing market collapses, and Biden arrives after sedition ruled the day and a pandemic gripped the nation.
In every example, soothing the angst of a nation was paramount.
Lincoln’s success would be the grandest of them all, but he would have to wait a few years to see it come to fruition.
Then that was short-lived coming to end with an assassin’s bullet.
None of the aforementioned officer holders had a “honeymoon” period.
Biden came to work. He came to heal a nation that was foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog during in a time when conspiracies became the truth and the truth became fake.
And still the ship was steadied, after the hatches were battened down.
He immediately embarked on COVID-19 relief package which was very much needed at the height of the pandemic.
He took a vaccine but felt no need to dramatically rip off a mask or risk the health of Secret Service agents.
He was able to navigate through the political minefield and secure an infrastructure bill that will rebuild this nation’s aging roads, bridges, and airports.
He took on climate change while simultaneously fighting for seniors by lowering drug costs.
President Biden was also instrumental in getting the “Health Care for Burn Pit Veterans Act” passed.
He strengthened alliances around the world while not falling in love with a North Korean despot (or regime) that every president from Truman to Obama refused to give credence to.
In a time when it almost seemed in vogue to have one-on-one meetings with Putin without an American translator or scribe, Biden immediately stood by Ukraine, with no hesitation.
It is Biden’s leadership and persistence on this matter that stymied Russia’s aggression and saved Ukraine.
Other European allies followed suit and an additional two nations have (or will soon be) a member of NATO.
Ok, Joe is running. Yes, he is old. Slowing down a bit. Yeah. And much can take place over the next few years.
But take a good look at who is running against him, barring a probable few more indictments.
Yes, the same person who fractured this nation. The same person who has drawn the absolute worst out of so many people much like a cult-leader.
Age? Sure. But I would take that concern over lack of character any time.
Age? Sure. And I will take a president who is old over one who is almost as old and remains a clear and present danger to this nation, each and every time.
President Biden . . . finish the job!
David Magnusson is a retired police chief with 36 ½ years of law enforcement experience having spent 30 of these years with the Miami Police Department retiring as an assistant chief. He was chief of the Havelock Police Department in the Marine Corps City of Havelock, North Carolina, home to Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station. He returned to South Florida as chief of the El Portal Police Department.
A historian, Magnusson has written on military and presidential history topics. He is a diehard baseball (St. Louis Cardinals) and boxing fan. Magnusson resides in South Florida with his wife. Their children and grandchildren are never too far away.
