Both sides are trying to make mental competency an issue in the upcoming presidential election. 

Every stumble or fumbled word is noted as evidence. “See there, he’s lost it,” or inferring physical feebleness translates to mental incapacity.

I spent the past two years helping my dad with his declining physical health. He couldn’t walk anymore and needed help getting up to get a shower or be taken to see a doctor. To the last day of his almost 91 years of life, I valued his advice on anything. His body died but his brain was very much alive.

In the last decade, we lost Stephen Hawking, a brilliant theoretical physicist. At age 21, he was diagnosed with a progressive neuron disease. Eventually he was gnarled, bound to a wheelchair and unable to speak without a mechanical device. He remained a leading expert in his field until his death at age 76 – including predicting the dangers of artificial intelligence 10 years ago.

During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt’s polio reduced him to a wheelchair. He remained tough enough to lead our country to fight and win a world war.

I would suggest that recent actions, not talk, tell us everything we need to know about the mental competency of leaders. We live in an extraordinarily complex world, where there are no simple answers and a lot of interrelated factors must be considered.  Let’s look at an example.

President Joe Biden is criticized by opponents for gutting our traditional oil-based energy production and causing gas price inflation. The facts suggest otherwise.  U.S. oil production in 2023 set an all-time record. We did it utilizing technology to get more production out of existing wells versus drilling new ones. Oil producer profits are high because they are getting more production without having to invest to drill.

At the same time, Biden re-established world alliances to address the decline of our environment. Incentives have resulted in increasing clean energy production and have started the transition to electric cars.  Despite an obstructive Congress, legislation is passed and in action to help build the charging infrastructure needed for electric cars.

If you’re mentally unfit, there’s no way you could envision a future healthier climate and put into action the steps required to get there, while at the same time set a record for the oil-based energy production your country currently depends upon.

We are living in a very dangerous time, with multiple factors in place that could erupt into World War III. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens all of Western Europe. The Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and corresponding military response has Middle East tension at hair trigger status. Terrorists throughout the world have access to rockets and drones to wreak havoc from afar. Iran and North Korea are becoming nuclear powers. China seeks economic dominance and has heightened threats to invade Taiwan. Alliances are woven throughout these situations.

So what is our feeble, too-old president doing?  He’s re-established alliances with NATO allies in Europe and continues to lead a collective effort to arm Ukraine to defend itself. He supports Israel surrounded by hostile countries and at the same time tries to advise restraint to limit civilian casualties. He’s reinvigorating alliances with Japan, South Korea, Australia and India as a counterbalance to China and North Korea. His most extreme opponents want him to attack Iran directly for their support of terrorists. Instead he tempers responses to terrorist attacks, avoiding war and keeping delicate Mideast partnerships alive.

At home, Biden understands how our government works within the constraints of our Constitution. He knows how to pass needed legislation without an overwhelming majority.  He knows how to use government to assist private industry in needed transition. And he understands the deft touch needed to manage our country’s role in world leadership. He’s spent decades developing experience and skills and is using his knowledge to this very day – even if he fumbles with words or trips and falls.

I don’t know that Donald Trump could pass a test on our Constitution or pass our citizenship test. I don’t know if he knows what started World War I or II, or any history.  I don’t know if he understands climate science, health science, economics or any science. He is like a pastor that doesn’t read the Bible because it has too many words, preferring to trust his gut instinct without recognizing he is as fallible as any other man.

Early primary exit polls asked why people voted for Trump. A common response was, “He doesn’t take crap from anybody.”  What I do know is that doesn’t work in the real world.  

Mankind’s flaw is self interest, which conflicts with everyone else’s self interest. If we can’t occasionally take some crap, our streets will be crowded with fist fights and shootings and all nations will be embroiled in World War III.

To me, that is the definition of mental incompetency.