Was Joe Biden Really the President?

The country needs to know if a ‘politburo’ of advisers was running the White House.

It’ll be a long time before Americans forget the clenched agony of watching President Biden stumble through his June 2024 debate with Donald Trump. No decent person, regardless of party affiliation, enjoyed the spectacle of a once vigorous man falling to pieces in public. It was a heart-rending scene, the kind that leaves a mark.

Former President Joe Biden gets ready to speak during a Juneteenth event at the Reedy Chapel AME Church, Thursday, June 19, 2025, in Galveston, Texas. (AP)

Voter solicitude, however, has its limits. If the American president has lost his marbles, the country has a right to know. We insist on seeing and hearing from him regularly for precisely this reason. The Constitution is clear about who wields executive power. It isn’t the first lady or the chief of staff.

For at least the final year of the Biden administration, nobody could say with confidence that the buck stopped with the man behind the Resolute desk. That can never happen again. We can’t allow it to happen again.

That’s why it’s good that the House Oversight Committee is investigating what transpired in the whispering corners of the Biden White House. Was there a regency? A palace coup? What role did the first family play? Did a “politburo” of advisers make decisions about the direction of the country while Mr. Biden dozed in the residence? Did he even know his autopen was signing off on controversial pardons? We need the answers.

“This is something I think every American is concerned about,” said Rep. James Comer, the Kentucky Republican who chairs the Oversight Committee. “I think every American wants to know the truth.”

Mr. Comer is 100% right, though not every American always wants the whole truth. And we don’t always want it right away. Sometimes it helps if a decade goes by. Often two. Time allows passions to cool and reason to rule. Then we can look at our big political mistakes with the objectivity they deserve.

Everyone knows that the subpoenaed members of Mr. Biden’s inner circle aren’t going to tell on themselves. The Fifth Amendment says they don’t have to, so they won’t. While there’s nothing Mr. Comer can do about that, he’s leaving a trail of crumbs for historians to one day follow. Let’s remember to thank him one day.

The case for letting the possible coverup go—at least for a while—collides with a complication: The current president is himself an old man with age-related issues. The White House was forced to admit last week that Mr. Trump, 79, has been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, an ailment apparently common among those over 50. The announcement came after several news outlets ran stories speculating about Mr. Trump’s swollen ankles and bruises visible on his hands.

Whether we want it to or not, the question isn’t going away: How old is too old to be president? Rep. John James (R., Mich.) proposed a constitutional amendment in 2023 setting 75 as the upper bound. Sounds reasonable until you consider that it would apply not only to the president but to all elected federal officeholders.

We can guess that senators and congressmen will balk at voting to retire themselves during what most consider the prime of public life. Mr. James’s amendment would end the careers of 15 current U.S. senators. A dead end.

We might do better to turn it around and ask: How young is too young? The Constitution says a 35-year-old can be president. That seems as crazy in its way as handing the nuclear football over to an octogenarian. Recall President Reagan’s quip about Walter Mondale’s relative “youth and inexperience” at the 1984 presidential debate. Reagan was then 73, Mondale 56. My how attitudes change.

One solution to the problem of the geriatric presidency is to pass the torch. Let a new generation have its moment. That may happen of its own accord, and sooner than we think. The 2028 field is already filling up with plausible contenders under 50. The list includes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (both 46), Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego (45), former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (43), Vice President JD Vance (40), businessman Vivek Ramaswamy (39) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (35).

A nation concerned about exhaustion in the executive may find some cause for excitement in the prospect of a younger president, but it isn’t a risk-free proposition. Are we sure a 40-year-old has the life-drawn wisdom to make strategic decisions on a global scale? We tried it once. History’s verdict is decidedly mixed on whether the three-year Kennedy presidency was a lasting success.

With a young president you also get a long and potentially annoying post-presidency. Witness the ongoing Obama family podcast melodrama. The only thing worse than President AOC would be what comes after: 40 years of Instagram live. That’s a feeling of clenched agony I’d prefer to avoid.

Mr. Hennessey is the Journal’s deputy editorial features editor.