Joseph Sabino Mistick: Happy Birthday, President Biden

If this is what 80 looks like, America could use more of that. President Joe Biden is celebrating his 80th birthday this weekend, and he was the oldest president in American history when he took office on Jan. 20, 2021.

Ronald Reagan was nearly 78 when he left office and Dwight David Eisenhower was 70 back when 70 was older than it is now, so having old guys in the White House is nothing new. While Biden was not much older than the incumbent president he beat, he has said that chronological “age is a totally legitimate thing to raise.”

Whether Biden runs again or not, the measure of his presidency will not be his age. It will be his record. Less than two weeks ago, under Biden’s leadership, the Democratic Party scored a major upset in the midterm elections by retaining control of the Senate and losing a fraction of the anticipated seats in the House of Representatives.

In many ways, the midterm results brought us together after being divided for too long. Mostly everywhere, the election deniers and liars were defeated, and many of the hate talkers went down hard.

When Biden gave a speech before the midterm election warning us that MAGA extremists who continue to encourage political violence and engage in voter intimidation are a threat to our democracy, he was ridiculed by the ultra-conservative media. But the voters knew that Biden was right.

Legislatively, Biden may be the most successful president in modern times. His victories include the American Rescue Plan Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Chips and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and game-changing health care and climate measures.

These programs have saved families, businesses and industries from covid-related failure. Our collapsing public infrastructure has been saved. Insulin and other vital medications will now be affordable.

Unemployment has dropped to the lowest level in decades. Hungry children are being fed and childhood poverty reduced. All of this while making more progress to reduce America’s greenhouse gas emissions than the last three administrations combined.

Internationally, Biden has rallied the Western world to the cause of freedom. Breathing new life into NATO, the United States and our European allies are standing up to the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Not too bad for an old guy. Surprising the doubters, it turns out that Biden knows more about what’s important to Americans than those politicians who would snoop in our bedrooms and doctors’ offices and the voting booth.

My old boss, Pittsburgh Mayor Sophie Masloff, was in her 70s while serving as mayor. She kept her political opponents off balance by referring to herself as “an old Jewish grandmother.”

Sophie was a genuinely humble public servant, but she liked to say half-jokingly, “In politics, it’s a good thing to be underestimated. Good politicians work at that.”

Joe Biden has been underestimated since his first campaign for senator to his last campaign for president. And it has always worked for him.

As Fox News contributor Leslie Marshall said this week, “This is a man who has had a lifetime of political experience. He knows what he’s doing and people, his party especially, shouldn’t have underestimated him.”