Month: January 2025

By Terence Smith

 “Who knows what I’m going to be when I’m 86 years old?” President Joe Biden asked rhetorically in an interview with Susan Page of USA Today on Jan. 5.

Dear Joe:

   I know.  

   At least I know how I feel and function at 86: a bit slower on the uptake, forgetful, impatient at times, frequently weary, prone to naps, etc. Age certainly has not improved my golf game, and for the first time in 40-plus years, I am not planning to ski this year.

   Of course, that’s me, not you. I have no idea how you will cope with the world at 86. Since you don’t drink and you work out frequently, you may be fine. If you’re like me four years from now, you’ll still enjoy life and take satisfaction from small things you used to ignore. You’ll find you are still incredibly busy, still unable to comprehend how you ever had time to work all those years and appreciate good friends more than ever.

   Should you have stepped down sooner,  Joe, say after the 2022 elections? Of course. Politically, it would have made sense and given a bumper crop of Democratic possibles time enough to compete for the nomination and define themselves to the voting public. Who knows? With enough time, a Democrat who emerged from primaries might even have discovered the key to election 2024, namely, that social media is the name of the game now, not mainstream media, and conventional advertising and pulled off an against-the-odds win. Clearly, the 107 days you left Kamala Harris after your concession was not enough.

   Anyway, as you begin retirement, look on the bright side: you’ll have time to walk the beach, laugh with Jill and watch your successor struggle with some of the same challenges you confronted in your incredibly busy and accomplished life. And, if your successor screws up, you’ll be able to say: “Been there, done that.”

   Importantly, your 50 years in public life and 12 years total in the White House as Vice President and President have given you a priceless gift: perspective. I hope you’ll share it with us in a book sooner rather than later. I am looking forward to reading it.

By Terence Smith

   I have two New Year’s Resolutions, the same two I embrace every year:

   1. Read More! (Especially before noon.)

   2. Write More! (Preferably before noon.)

   Number One makes sense because, at this stage in a long life, I enjoy reading more and more, I learn things and no heavy lifting is involved. I usually read two or three books at a time, switching from one to another as my mood changes. Right now, I have three big, heavy biographies underway:

   “Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman’s Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction and Intrigue,” by Sonia Purnell.

   “Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom,” by David W. Blight.

    “Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century,” by George Packer.

   All three are terrific. Lest you think I am hopelessly hooked on biographies, I just finished a wonderful novel: “The Bee Sting,” by Paul Murray, an Irish author. It is funny, unpredictable, rambling and delightful. Murray needs an editor, but he has an intriguing technique of writing what his characters are thinking to themselves as they stumble through life. 

   And, just ahead: “The Newsmongers, A History of Tabloid Journalism,” by Terry Kirby, a British newsmonger himself.

   Why before noon? In truth, it is hard for me to read books, much less write them, before noon on an average day because three newspapers arrive on my doorstep every morning: The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Annapolis Capital Gazette.  Give all three a serious read and look up at the clock: it’s noon! 

   Those are my New Year’s resolutions for 2025, and my excuse for not being more productive. Just like last year.