President Joe Biden is routinely attacked, mocked, and ridiculed for his supposed physical and cognitive decline, while other comparable political figures like Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Mitch McConnell—and even President Ronald Reagan—got much gentler treatment from their opponents and the media into their later years.
The easy explanation is that being one of a hundred senators is nothing like being president of the country. Also, Reagan was president 40 years ago, which is like being in another galaxy. The traditions that insulated them are vanishing in the age of social media but can help provide context for what Biden and former President Donald Trump, too, face today.
The late California Sen. Feinstein had shown serious decline for years before dying in office last year at age 90. Her staff covered for her, which is how such things are customarily done in the Senate. She was an icon for women with an illustrious career, and respect for her and what she’d accomplished kept her in office—even when she was no longer a fully functioning senator. After she gave up her seat on the Judiciary Committee, her uneven cognition didn’t matter as much, and even her critics backed off.
