Biden Gets It Done: Age Confers Wisdom and Discernment
Biden is remarkably effective, despite slowing down. As does any older executive, he delegates more — yet still makes it all happen.
Joe Biden is slowing down as he gets older. He’s not as steady on his feet, and his speech — never graceful — has grown more stilted and prone to pauses and fumbled word choices.
Yet he governs well, and will likely govern well in a next term if elected. Here is how I think he does it.
Delegation
Biden knows a lot of people. Not just in a casual way, but deeply, after working with them at the highest levels of government for decades. His Chief of Staff, Jeff Zeints is a relatively spritely 57 years old, and energetic. Zeints worked in the Obama White House (where Biden was of course VP) for a decade. Prior to Zients, the job was held by Ron Klain who was then in his late 50s as well, and also served with Biden in Obama’s White house for over a decade.
The entire current Cabinet is similarly competent and energetic.
Biden knows these people well and trusts them. Trusts deeply — we can speculate that Biden is in lock-step with these officials who he knows so well, chose for their abilities, and works with daily.
A focus on core principles, judicious action, and great staff will outperform energetic micromanagement. Every time.
Delegating without trusting that people will carry out the Presidential vision would be abdication. Delegating to the right people to do the right thing, with reason to trust, is leadership.
Competence
Biden’s cabinet could not be more different from Trump’s. Trump had some competent and experienced cabinet members at first, but immediately cowed them into obeisance and later systematically fired them and replaced them with yes-man loyalists as he learned that experienced public servants are not sufficiently spineless and obedient. In the end, Trump had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to get what he wanted.
Napping?
I don’t know for sure, but my guess is that Biden is not working 80 hour weeks at this point in his life. Or 60. His public events are now almost exclusively scheduled between 9am and 6pm Monday through Friday.
If I was 80 years old, I think I’d take a rest or two in there as well. Full disclosure: Pluralus like a nice nap.
(Note that Trump worked far less, blocking frequent, multi-hour blocks of “executive time” on his calendar, when Trump seemed not to do much at all.)
So what? Biden appears to be effective and still clearly sets key direction and oversight for the country, making use of his decades of experience in government, rather than digging into minutiae for 12 hours a day.
Here are Biden’s obvious and transparent values, all of which are being implemented:
- Working class focus. Manufacturing, Unions, and a coherent industrial policy are all dramatically on the rise. Biden drove a record decline in poverty.
- Anti-crime. Despite taking flak for a somewhat harsh 1990 Crime Bill he sponsored (and which worked) Biden has presided over a record decrease in violent crime.
- Pro police. Biden reduced that crime by funding the police. No “woke” nonsense here, despite pressures from his Left flank.
- Standing with Israel. Standing against terror. Love it or hate it, Biden is driving the agenda. Most Democrats, and any weaker politician in an election year, would have thrown Israel under the bus, bolstering Hamas.
- Bipartisanship. Biden takes flak for not being purely partisan. He often praises Republicans, and shrugs off heat from fellow Dems: Just this term he praised: Mitch McConnell (infrastructure bill), Mitt Romney (impeachment vote), Susan Collins (bipartisanship), Rob Portman (infrastructure bill), Lisa Murkowski (independence), John McCain (commitment to country over party)
He may seem like “Sleepy Uncle Joe” but his priorities do get done.
Oversight
Despite likely delegating more work to his Cabinet and staff, Biden is clearly in charge, and it is paying off.
Here is how a conversation with Anthony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State might (hypothetically) have gone:
- Blinken: “Mr. President we have bad news. Israel is bombing Gaza, and Hamas reports that over 10,000 civilians were killed. What should we do?”
- President Biden: “Tony, we stay the course as we always have. C’mon man! You know as well as I do that the United States is loyal to our allies, and stands against terrorism no matter what. Go ahead and pressure Israel a little bit. Say that Netanyahu should leave office, tell them the Settlers are out of control. But combating terrorism and drawing a line between good and evil is our national interest.”
That’s it. Biden knows what to do, and it can often be conveyed in two minutes instead of hammered out in 12 hours. Certainly not at this point in his life, with decades of public service and foreign policy experience.
Let’s similarly imaging when Deb Haaland, our Secretary of the Interior, informed Biden that the “Squad” was holding over $2T in stimulus package funding hostage at the end of the Covid pandemic era:
- Haaland: “Mr. President, I have bad news. AOC is demanding $10T in funding for her Green New Deal, and says otherwise they’ll hold up the stimulus … and the investment bill too! The economy is teetering! Yellen tells me that without our stimulus a million small businesses could fold and set off a recession not seen since 1929.”
- President Biden: “We’re stronger than this, Deb. The progressive wing… those representatives are OK. Sure, they’ll make some noise — heck, they have to protest because their districts want it. But when they realize that Manchin and Sinema will never pass their package, they’ll come around. Listen. I’ll put Ron Klain on it. He’ll tell them they can grumble and make a good show of it for the folks back home in their districts, but then they’re going to vote for the stimulus and save the economy. Get Ron in here. I’ll put him on it right away. Then I’ll rest up a little before that State thing.”
Decades in Congress has made Biden a master. Remember that Obama and Trump tried to get an infrastructure bill through for their entire terms, and then Biden did it within a year. With bipartisan support.
Efficient, wise, and minimal
As the maxim goes, “that government is best which governs least,” and Biden as an individual may have such success for similar reasons. A focus on core principles, judicious action, and great staff will outperform energetic micromanagement. Every time.
So sure, Biden will stumble over some words. He’s never been able to speak very well. And he’ll slow down. My guess is he’ll nap a bit too. I would not be surprised if he cuts back to 35 or 40 hours a week in his 2nd term.
Who cares?
In three minutes a few times a week Biden can set the wisest and best directions for our country, and send his staff out to follow that guidance. He’s not going to do it all himself at this stage, but fortunately he does not need to.
It may even be for the better than he now only has time and energy to weigh in on the things that really matter.
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