A bombshell was dropped earlier this month when Department of Justice Special Counsel Robert Hur released his findings on President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents. The good news for Biden was Hur does not plan to bring charges. However, the bad news was that even though Hur concluded that Biden was actually guilty, no jury would convict him because Biden is too old and has “limited precision and recall.” Hur’s ultimate conclusion was that Biden is “a sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.” The statements— though probably politically motivated—are damning to the president because to many they only confirm what they already suspect: Biden is too old and will never make four more years.
Age has always been a concern for presidential elections. It was one of the biggest issues facing Ronald Reagan when he ran for president at age 73. Yet that is now seeming young compared to the two presumptive candidates with Trump at age 77 and Biden at 81.
With Biden, between the reports and what seems like mental slips in the last few years, voters have wondered what happens if the president becomes mentally unable to fulfill his duties. Historically speaking, it would not be the first time a president was mentally incapacitated, only the first time it happened that the public never knew.
In 1912 the very progressive ex-governor of New Jersey, Woodrow Wilson was elected President of the United States as a Democrat, only the second since James Buchanan’s 1856 election. As a progressive, he shaped the direction of the nation including instituting income tax, direct election of senators and women’s suffrage. While in office, arguably Wilson’s two biggest events were personally the marriage to his second wife Edith Galt Wilson in 1915, and internationally the beginning of WWI in 1914. Wilson used American neutrality in the war as his campaign slogan, “Vote for Wilson! He kept us out of war,” when he ran for reelection in 1916. Yet it was only about a year later that America sided with the Allies and started shipping soldiers off to France.
Historians debate whether Wilson intended all along to enter the war. Those who believe he always planned on fighting do not believe his progressive nature would allow him to stay out of a fight that had such important outcomes. The war changed the map of Europe and toppled four major empires. Wilson knew the only way he would have a seat at the table after the war was as a fighting participant. Wilson, who held a Ph.D. in history and government from Johns Hopkins University and had served as president of Princeton University, was so confident he could solve all the world’s issues he showed up at the negotiating table with his Thirteen Points and expected to dominate the meeting. While Wilson did not get all his points into the Treaty of Versailles, he did get his most desired point: establishing the League of Nations, an international body that could solve future problems before they escalate into war.
The problem for Wilson was the Republican congress back home. Knowing the treaty needed congressional ratification, Wilson should have consulted with key Republicans on the treaty, but he was not that kind of president. When he presented the treaty to the Senate it was rejected, especially the League of Nations.
However, instead of compromising with Republican senators, Wilson took his cause to the people. He believed that the people would rally to his cause and force the senate to accept the League. For months Wilson rode a train around the nation giving whistlestop speeches to any crowd that would listen. However, in October, overworked and physically exhausted, the president suffered from a stroke that left him paralyzed and mentally impaired.
Instead of reporting the stroke, Edith and a small group decided to cover it up and tell the American people he was suffering from exhaustion. While the government continued to function normally Edith began making the executive decisions, including meeting with cabinet members and foreign dignitaries. When Republicans demanded an audience, Edith pulled a scene straight out of Weekend at Bernie’s, where she dressed Wilson up, and put his bed in the shadows with his paralyzed side to the wall. Wilson was able to pull it off with enough ability to carry a very short conversation to appease his detractors. Edith pulled off the act for over a year, knowing that, if discovered, the League of Nations would be doomed. In the end, it did not matter as the Republicans voted down American membership in the League, killing it before it even got started. As for Wilson, Edith was able to keep his secret until President Warren G. Harding was inaugurated.
I’m not sure if Jill Biden would be up to the task like Edith Wilson, but fortunately, if something were to happen to the president there are now laws in place. After the death of President John F. Kennedy, Congress pushed through the 25th Amendment that set up the line of accession to the presidency. In Section Four it states, “Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.”
This section allowed for the president to be replaced if he is no longer able to perform his executive duties. While so far this amendment has only been used temporarily, mostly for colonoscopies, there are many who believe it might be enacted for the first time no matter which elderly statesman holds the office.
James Finck is a professor of history at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. He may be reached at HistoricallySpeaking1776@ gmail.com.
