By Reagan Reese
Dozens of people close to Joe Biden over the years told the Wall Street Journal how aides handled his responsibilities beginning in 2021, as concerns about his fitness increased inside the administration.
Since the 82-year-old president dropped out of the presidential race, questions about his physical state and how long the president had been declining remained unanswered. The Wall Street Journal interviewed nearly 50 people close to Biden throughout his administration and learned how staff handled cabinet officials, presidential responsibilities and campaign events.
Biden, who was often prone to gaffes and having an unsteady gait, was typically trailed by aides, Annie Tomasini and Ashley Williams, while participating in events, according to the WSJ. Those aides tried to stay within ear shot or eye distance of the president over the years, often giving him “basic instructions” like when to leave and exit the stage in an event.
Aides also adjusted the president’s schedule to start his meetings later in the day as the 82-year-old was typically not his sharpest in the morning. Sometimes, critically-important meetings were reportedly scrapped all together if Biden was having an “off day,” such as meetings about national-security issues.
“He has good days and bad days, and today was a bad day so we’re going to address this tomorrow,” a former aide recalled one official saying to them.
Over the years, some lawmakers saw aides and senior advisers acquire roles the president should’ve been handling, the WSJ reported. Some cabinet officials frequently dealt with the president’s advisers rather than the 82-year-old himself.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told the WSJ that the president had daily conversations with the members of his cabinet. At the White House’s request, some cabinet officials contacted the outlet to tell them about their positive relationship with the executive branch, adding that they received phone calls from Biden.
When it came to getting directive from the president, former senior cabinet aides told the WSJ that a “top-down” approach was used. Rather than discussing policy and direction with the cabinet officials, the White House would issue directives for each agency. It was a system that made it hard for the cabinet officials “to discern to what degree Biden was insulated because of his age versus his preference for a powerful inner circle.”
“If I had an issue or I needed attention on something, I had multiple avenues to explore to raise the issue,” Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. “You don’t always have to raise the issue with the president.”
Rather than meeting with Biden (who held nine cabinet meetings in four years), cabinet members typically met with the president’s advisers, including national security adviser Jake Sullivan and economic adviser Lee Brainard. From there, the advisers would bring the meeting notes to the president and then report back to the cabinet official, former administration officials told the WSJ.
Despite Treasury secretaries typically meeting with the president more frequently than others, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was kept at “an arm’s length relationship” and rather than dealing with Biden, typically was in touch with his advisers instead, according to people familiar with the interactions.
Though always able to get a meeting with Biden, even Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin experienced a more distant relationship with the president as the years went on, the WSJ reported. Over the last two years, Austin’s invitations to regularly brief the president decreased and solo meetings with Biden became rare and typically virtual. (RELATED: White House Morale Reportedly In Shambles Due To Biden Stiffing Staffers On Photo Ops)
Bates denied that there had been any change in Austin and Biden’s relationship and frequency of meetings to the WSJ.
Aides also worked to keep Biden buttoned up on the campaign trail.
When it came to private events, donors were “shocked” when officials told them that they would not be getting a “free ranging question-and-answer session,” the WSJ reported. Instead, donors were told to send in a couple of questions they had and they were later given notecards on questions to ask the president.
The White House told the WSJ that it was typical for staff to help walk high-ranking officials through events.
Some lawmakers remarked to the WSJ about their lack of relationship and ability to talk to the president.
Independent West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin told the outlet that the president’s staff play a much bigger role in day-to-day operations than he had seen from previous presidencies.
“They were going, ‘I’ll take care of that,’” Manchin said.
