The closest to President Biden are well aware that he has undergone a transformation. His speech has become slower than it was just a few years ago, and he even needs assistance to rise from the presidential limousine, walking with a halting gait. Yet, it was Mike Donilon, his long-time strategist, who bluntly pointed out, “Your biggest issue is the perception of age,” to him in mid-2022. This kind of straightforward advice is not often offered to a man who has spent half a century in politics, valuing loyalty and respect. Acknowledging these concerns, President Biden’s defiance and competitive spirit were only further fueled. Now, as President-elect Donald J. Trump returns to the White House, demoralized Democrats are debating what might have been had the president stepped down in time to let a younger generation take the reins. At 82 years old, Biden has also made an extraordinary admission, suggesting he might not have made it through a second term. “Who knows what I’ll be at 86?” he asked in an interview with USA Today on January 5. This admission has put his family and inner circle in the spotlight, despite their public denial of voter and party concerns about his age. However, privately, they recognized his physical fragility more than they publicly acknowledged. According to interviews with over two dozen aides, allies, lawmakers, and donors, they cooperated to manage his decline. They adjusted meetings to ensure his mood was better—a strategy described by someone close to him as how to handle any president. They even delayed sharing negative polling data with him, discussing how to frame the information most effectively. And when he walked from the White House to the waiting presidential helicopter on the South Lawn, they surrounded him with aides to prevent news cameras from capturing his awkward posture.
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