What do Queen Elizabeth (95), Janet Yellen (74), our president (78) and the pope (84) have in common?
How about Mike DeWine (74), Jerry Brown (83) and Lamar Alexander (80)?
They are all public men and women who are making major contributions in what once would have been thought their dotage.
They are not only hanging on, or “still going strong,” but, arguably, doing their best work.
The late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg died at 87 but was working full tilt, fully employing her little gray cells, up until almost the very end.
Mark Shields, 84, is much missed as a weekly news analyst. He could say more off the cuff than most commentators could after extended study and preparation. Why? Accumulated memory. He’s seen it all in politics.
All this is not only cheering news for geezers themselves, but it suggests that a special contribution can be made by the veterans among us.
A geezer has often honed his or her knowledge, his or her passions, and his or her anxieties and insecurities.
What historian Jon Meacham has said about Biden is that this is a man who has known tragedy and who thought his political career was over. He no longer sweats the small stuff.
When Jerry Brown returned to the governor’s mansion in California after 28 years he said he was the longest active public figure in the Western Hemisphere next to Fidel Castro. It was a joke but he was not far off. He was 73 at the time and got into politics in his 20s. He is 83 now and left office just two years ago.
Unlike Castro, Brown learned from his youthful errors and had grown relaxed and wise. He didn’t need a pollster or a handler to tell him what to say in a press conference or how to cut his hair.
And he did a fine job on his second tour of duty.
Europeans, traditionally, have had more respect for the elders of their culture and politics and were more willing to invest them with power. Think Konrad Adenauer in post-World War II Germany. He came to power, as chancellor, at 73 and held office for almost 17 years.
You don’t have to be able to play touch football to lead. You need to know something.
Barack Obama played basketball as president, which Joe Biden can’t do. But Biden understands the Republicans, and the Hill, and the shelf life of a presidency far better than Obama did. And he can talk to a cop or a factory worker.
What gave him those gifts? Simply his years.
Brown was also the son of a governor. Someone asked him once, “What did you learn from your father?” “I learned how to make the moves,” he said.
Here is what the old may offer: A certain calm. Fewer fluctuations of the mind. Less likelihood of going down rabbit holes. An ability to focus on the long view and things that really matter. Winnowed learning. A true aim.
This editorial first appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Monday. This commentary should be considered another point of view and not necessarily the opinion or editorial policy of The Dominion Post.
