Ageism is ingrained in most Western democracies. However, not all institutions embrace it. The business world is obsessed with an ageist mindset that often throws people in their mid-50s on the human scrap heap simply because they are perceived as less productive than younger generations.
Still, there are exceptions. The Catholic Church guarantees the clergy a job for life if they persevere in living their faith. St Pope John Paul II struggled with physical infirmity in his last few years but still refused to resign from the papacy. The late Emeritus Pope Benedict was more sensible. When he felt that his physical health was waning, he resigned and opened the way for Pope Francis, who was also advanced in years, to take over.
Unsurprisingly, politicians are the section of society that finds it most challenging to decide when it is time to go, even if everyone else can tell them when their shelf life has expired.
The US presidential campaign is being analysed from various political angles. Yet, up to some weeks ago, for many ordinary people, what matters is how in 2024 in the US, the second biggest democracy, people only have a choice of being led by either of two candidates showing signs of mental and physical decline.
Current President Joe Biden took some convincing from his friends and family to withdraw from the race after showing that he no longer had the necessary physical and mental ability to lead the most powerful country in the world. Ultimately, he did the right thing, even if he did so reluctantly.
His rival, Donald Trump, is a different story. He not only ignores his friends’ and family’s advice, but he deludes himself that he is still a spring chicken that can heal the dangerous divisions in US society.
They ignore the signs of the times and want the world to keep talking about them
A bombshell report in Vanity Fair reveals that the former president watches footage of his near assassination on a loop, leading his closest advisers to fear that he may be self-sabotaging. According to Vanity Fair, his campaign staff commented privately that his complexion is wan, his energy low and his voice was slurry in the rambling sit-down he had with Elon Musk.
Trump’s wife, Melania, has reportedly made it clear that she has no interest in a second term and would not move back to the White House if her husband is re-elected in November.
Trump will not admit it, but many followers of US politics believe he has aged rapidly, especially after his assassination attempt. The trauma must have made it clear to him that mortality is suddenly very near, and he is perhaps wondering whether another term is still worth it.
In many ways, Trump now resembles no one so much as his former political rival, whose decrepitude made Trump, aged 78, to Biden’s 81, seem positively youthful.
Few politicians know when it is time to go, whether because of their declining physical or mental health or because their political shelf life has long expired. A recent example of this reality relates to Liz Truss, a former UK prime minister in power for just six weeks.
She recently decided to remain relevant in politics by appointing herself as a defender of free speech and of Trump. In an interview in Suffolk, she was waxing lyrical about the importance of Trump for the free world when the activism group Led By Donkeys dropped a strategically positioned remote-controlled banner showing a picture of a lettuce and the words “I crashed the economy”.
Truss, of course, was not amused. She defends free speech as long as any criticism is not directed against her. She did not emulate Theresa May, who had sat on the backbenches serving her constituency after she had resigned.
Boris Johnson is another former prime minister who still wants to consider himself relevant in politics. He does not want to define himself as an “elder statesman” or “former prime minister”. He knows he still has a nuisance value even as the Conservative Party struggles to renew itself.
Most successful politicians often struggle to find a place after a life in politics. Think of Margareth Thatcher’s twilight years as a warrior without a battle to fight, or Tony Blair’s reinvention of himself as a multimillionaire consultant and a guru of centre-left political thinking.
Most former politicians are delusional about how others perceive them. They ignore the signs of the times and want the world to keep talking about them. Sadly, their illusions of grandeur often become ordinary people’s nightmares.