What to Know About Doug Emhoff, Prospective First Gentleman

If Vice President Kamala Harris is the Democratic candidate and beats Donald Trump in the November presidential election, her victory would be historic in many ways—including her husband Doug Emhoff becoming the country’s first-ever First Gentleman.

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After President Joe Biden announced he would drop out of the race and instead endorsed Harris as his replacement on the Democratic ticket, Emhoff praised the President and his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, in a statement on X Sunday night.

“I am deeply grateful to @POTUS and @FLOTUS for their years of friendship and support,” he wrote. “President Biden is a true patriot who leads our nation with honesty, decency, and integrity. Alongside @VP, they have fought tirelessly for families and communities, delivering for Americans across our nation. I am so proud of their accomplishments and thankful for their leadership.” 

In the past three and half years as Second Gentleman, Emhoff has pursued a small policy portfolio under the Biden Administration, revolving around his practice of law and his Jewish identity. Now that Harris is on her presidential campaign, the spotlight is also on Emhoff and how he might craft an unprecedented role as First Gentleman.

Here’s what you need to know about Emhoff.

Family life

Emhoff was born in Brooklyn to Mike and Barbara Emhoff on Oct. 13, 1964 and raised in Old Bridge, N.J., with siblings Jamie and Andy. When Emhoff was 16, he and his family moved to Los Angeles, Calif. Emhoff earned a bachelor’s degree in communication studies in 1987 at California State University – Northridge and a J.D. from University of Southern California Gould School of Law in 1990.

Emhoff married film producer Kerstin Emhoff in 1992, and they have two children: Cole, 29, and Ella, 25. The couple divorced after 16 years of marriage.

In 2013, Emhoff met Harris, then California attorney general, on a blind date. “The morning after our first date, Doug emailed me a list of his available dates for the next couple of months,” Harris wrote. “He said, ‘I want to see if we can make this work.’ We’ve been making it work ever since.” In an interview with Stephen Colbert in May, Emhoff said it was “love at first sight.” 

Emhoff and Harris married in a Santa Barbara, Calif. courthouse on Aug. 22, 2014, with Harris’ sister Maya officiating the ceremony.

Harris has a close relationship with Emhoff’s kids, who call her “Momala.”

Law career

Emhoff has been a lawyer for over 30 years, focused on media, entertainment, and intellectual property. He rose up the ranks in major law firms like Venable LLP, representing clients including the pharmaceutical company Merck and the arms dealer Dolarian Capital in a case related to the sale of weapons to Afghanistan, the New York Times reports. While at Venable, Emhoff won one of his most high-profile cases—a decades-long battle over the Taco Bell chihuahua.

When Harris won a Senate seat in 2016, Emhoff moved to Washington D.C. with her, and found a job as a partner in DLA Piper in 2017, where he had earned as much as $1.2 million per year.

With Harris’ inauguration as Vice President in 2021, Emhoff left DLA Piper. But he didn’t leave law behind: he joined the Georgetown Law Faculty in January 2021. He has also applied his legal expertise in helping the Biden Administration in its initiatives to facilitate and simplify legal aid. “He is an advocate for access to legal aid and removing barriers – legal, social, and financial – to ensure that every person can get the help they need to arrive at justice,” the White House writes in Emhoff’s biography.

Representing the Biden Administration, Emhoff led delegations to South Korea and the Philippines, and promoted the Biden-Harris policy agendas and COVID vaccination pushes. Emhoff maintains an office at the White House Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

Antisemitism advocacy

Emhoff also made history as the first Jewish spouse of a U.S. President or Vice President, and he has embraced his identity, helping the Biden Administration in its fight against antisemitism. He has convened Jewish leaders for what the White House called a first-of-its-kind roundtable on antisemitism awareness, and as Second Gentleman, he has criticized Donald Trump and Kanye West for their antisemitic remarks.

After the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel and the subsequent assault by Israel in Gaza, Emhoff spoke before Jewish leaders: “We witnessed a mass murder of innocent civilians,” he said. “It was a terrorist assault, and there is never any justification for terrorism. There are no two sides to this issue.”

source https://time.com/7001806/doug-emhoff-career-family-life/

The 6 Best Strategies for Coping With Jet Lag

Nothing puts a damper on a vacation like spending the first few days a groggy, jet-lagged mess. Crossing time zones to come home can be a slog, too.

You probably know what jet lag feels like: fatigue, a weird sleep schedule, and general unwellness. But why does it happen? Jet lag occurs when there’s a mismatch between your circadian rhythms—which influence the activity of cells and organs throughout your body—and time of day at your destination. Our biological clocks make us creatures of habit, used to sleeping, waking, and eating at roughly the same times every day. So when you abruptly cross time zones, your body gets confused by its new schedule and environment. As it adjusts, everything from your sleep cycle to your digestion may feel out of whack.

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To some degree, jet lag is an inevitable part of long-distance air travel. But, experts say, it is possible to minimize its effects to make the most of your trip—and cushion the blow of returning home. Here’s how.

Shift your bedtime before you fly

If you’re facing a time change of only a few hours—say, the three-hour difference between Los Angeles and New York City—you can prepare in advance, says Dr. Sairam Parthasarathy, director of the Center for Sleep, Circadian and Neuroscience Research at the University of Arizona Health Sciences.

Starting about three days before traveling east, move up your bedtime by 30 minutes each night, Parthasarathy recommends. Going to bed progressively earlier will prime your body to start getting tired at a normal bedtime in New York, even though it’s early back in California. If necessary, you can also take a small dose of melatonin shortly before your desired bedtime. And, on the day you arrive in New York, try to avoid bright light exposure in the evening, which can keep you up longer, Parthasarathy says.

Read More: 8 Eating Habits That Improve Your Sleep

Before flying west, reverse these instructions. Go to bed progressively later over the days before your flight, and once you land, try to get some light exposure in the afternoon and evening to delay sleep. Traveling west tends to be an easier adjustment, Parthasarathy says, because most people find it easier to willfully stay up than to force themselves to sleep when they’re not tired.

Make your first day count

If you’re crossing lots of time zones—such as when flying from Los Angeles to London—you may step off the plane feeling like a zombie, ready for bed before lunchtime. There’s only so much you can do to prepare in advance for such a dramatic time difference, but what you do when you arrive matters, says Dr. Alon Avidan, director of the University of California, Los Angeles Sleep Disorders Center.

Light exposure is the single strongest factor regulating circadian rhythms. So if you land in London in the morning, try to avoid seeing direct sunlight until early afternoon. (That means wearing sunglasses if you’re going to be outside.) After crossing so many time zones, your “circadian clock might incorrectly mistake early-morning light in London for evening sunset,” only adding to your physiological confusion, Avidan explains. With each day of your trip, you can start seeing morning sun progressively earlier.

Read More: You’re Vacationing All Wrong. Here’s How to Have a Truly Restful Break

And, even if you’re exhausted, resist the temptation to go to your hotel and fall into a deep sleep in the middle of the day. That’s “the last thing we want people to do,” Avidan says, because it only prolongs the mismatch between your internal time and the external time. If you absolutely need some shut-eye to get through the day, take a “strategic” power nap of no longer than 20 minutes, ideally no later than 2 p.m., Avidan suggests. Any longer or later and you’ll risk ruining your overnight sleep.

Caffeine can be used in a similar manner, he says. A coffee or two can help you power through the day, but don’t drink it so late that you can’t sleep at night.

Adjust your mealtimes, too

While sunlight exposure is key, everything from food intake to physical activity to social interaction also plays a part in regulating circadian rhythms, Parthasarathy says. So think twice before you wolf down an airplane dinner that’s being served at 3 a.m. in the time zone you’re traveling toward. Your brain is saying, “‘Wait a second, what meal is that?’” Parthasarathy explains.

If you can hold out, he says, it’s often better to wait to eat until a regular mealtime at your destination. (Within reason, of course—if you’re on a long-haul flight, don’t feel like you have to starve yourself for hours on end, Avidan says.)

You may want to skip that in-flight cocktail, too, especially if you’re trying to get a full night’s sleep on the plane. Booze disrupts sleep, often causing you to wake prematurely when your blood alcohol levels drop, Avidan explains. If you really want to toast to your vacation, try to end the celebrations after one drink.

Exercise for energy

As much as you may want to spend your first day of vacation lounging in your cozy hotel bed, it’s better to get up and move, says Emily Schmitt, who runs the Circadian Rhythm and Exercise Research Lab at the University of Wyoming. 

On your first morning in a new time zone, do 20 minutes of activity, she suggests. “It doesn’t have to be an all-out sprint or a hard CrossFit workout,” she says. “It could simply be wandering down to your local coffee shop.” Anything that gets you up and out of bed in the morning will help your body perk up and adjust to its new surroundings, she says. It may also help your digestion get back to normal.

Read More: What’s the Best Pillow Setup for Sleep?

Light physical activity, such as walking, can also be a useful tool if you find yourself crashing early in the evening due to jet lag, Schmitt says. Movement boosts alertness, so it can be a helpful way to delay sleep until bedtime.

Be very careful with sleeping pills

Parthasarathy says his patients sometimes try to use sleeping pills to ensure they get as much rest as possible on their long-haul flights. But that strategy can backfire, he warns. Medication mixed with jet lag-induced fatigue can lead to serious drowsiness, confusion, and disorientation upon waking. Tread very carefully if you choose to take medication while traveling, especially if it’s not one you use regularly, Parthasarathy says.

Outsource the mental energy

If all of this sounds complicated, turn to your phone. There are plenty of jet-lag calculators—like those from British Airways and Timeshifter—that tell you exactly how to prepare for jet lag based on your flight details.

source https://time.com/7001547/how-to-avoid-jet-lag/

Project 2025’s Plan to Eliminate Public Schools Has Already Started

Project 2025, the policy agenda for Former President Trump’s potential first year back in the White House published by the far right conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, has been making waves recently. Some of the many destructive proposals within the agenda include the elimination of the U.S. Department of Education—along with federal education funding and any civil rights protections—and the diversion of public money to private school voucher programs instead.

Make no mistake: The goal is to end public education. But dismantling our public schools isn’t just the plan if Trump is reelected—it is already happening.

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We are on the brink of a new wave of public school closures, another step in the decades-long project to divest and dismantle the institution of public school. Disguised as “school choice,” federal, state, local, and private actors have prioritized paying for  private and charter schools, hoarding educational resources for the haves and depleting resources for the have-nots.

The policies that Project 2025 plans to prioritize—government payments to families sending their children to private school and creation of new charter schools that are run like businesses—have expanded in the last few years, starving public school districts that serve all students of already insufficient resources. In the 2023-24 school year, at least 70 school districts, including in San Antonio, Texas, Jackson, Mississippi, and Wichita, Kansas, announced permanent closures of public schools, impacting millions of students. These districts are resorting to the harmful, discriminatory, and ineffective so-called ‘solution’ of closing schools in Black and Latine communities, stripping those communities of their local public schools.

Read More: Everything Biden and Trump Have Said About the Controversial Project 2025

Here’s how it works: Concerned about shrinking enrollments and budget crises, district leaders conclude that they must close schools, often without any evidence or analysis that it would save money—and, indeed, it hasn’t been shown to save money unless coupled with mass layoffs. They hire consultants who come up with “utilization” rates and then recommend closing schools with the lowest rates to “rightsize” the district—their euphemism for their misguided belief that school facility usage should be guided by arbitrary numbers instead of meeting communities where they are.

The problem is that “utilization”—a school’s enrollment over its supposed capacity—is stacked against schools that have experienced historic underfunding and disinvestment in facilities repairs, curricula, extracurricular opportunities, and staff. These same schools disproportionately serve Black and Latine students, English Learner students, students with disabilities, and students living in poverty.

Closing schools is demonstrably harmful—and has real-life impact. Research on the mass urban school closures from 2012 to 2014 overwhelmingly found that academic outcomes suffered, particularly for low-performing students. A May 2024 study from Brown University linked the experience of a school closure to “decreases in post-secondary education attainment, employment, and earnings at ages 25–27.” Additionally, closures force families to travel farther to get to schools that are not in their communities, making it harder to form relationships with staff, join extracurriculars, or get involved in parent organizations.

These communities are also often the first to lose access to the benefits of neighborhood public schools, which act as essential gathering places for social services and community resources like adult education, polling locations, a place to hold community meetings, and access to democratic community control through school board elections.

There are more equitable and educationally sound approaches than the lazy, unjust, self-sabotaging—and all too common—approach of spending money on consultants to tell districts what they have already decided to do: close the schools they value least, relying on metrics that target symptoms of their systemic neglect, and playing into the conservative agenda to make public schools obsolete.

Districts have better options to address budget woes. They can start a community-driven process to reshape the budget, wherein multiple stakeholders—rather than a selected few—play an active role in setting district budget priorities. Districts can also employ community-led assessments of how they use buildings, allowing school communities, particularly those historically marginalized, to request the resources, support, and spaces they need.

At the very least, districts should integrate equity requirements into school closure proposals, for instance, by incorporating community-based equity audits into decision-making. States can also follow California’s lead by requiring and robustly enforcing equity safeguards for any decisions to close schools.

Young people and their communities deserve better than districts repeatedly making the same mistakes. District leaders must stop listening to expensive consultants and closing much-loved and needed schools, and instead, must listen to the communities they serve and focus on solutions that put students first. Local, state and federal governments must fully and equitably fund public schools—schools obligated to take and educate everyone—and stop diverting money to a system of charter and private schools where students and families are forced to compete for a limited pool of high quality resources for a select few.

Project 2025 is not an inevitability—it is a call to action for anyone who cares about public education in this country. Our public school system requires more resources to create better school environments for everyone. We need investment in our public schools—not closures.

source https://time.com/7001264/project-2025-public-school-closure/

Watch Live: Vice President Kamala Harris Makes First Public Appearance Since Biden Endorsement

Vice President Kamala Harris makes her first public appearance since President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed her candidacy for president. The Vice President delivers remarks at the White House at an event celebrating the NCAA championship teams.

source https://time.com/7001306/watch-harris-first-appearance-since-biden-endorsement/

Here’s What Alcohol Does to the Gut

Tina Aswani-Omprakash vividly remembers the day that led her to give up drinking forever. 

Her inflammatory bowel syndrome (IBS) had been in remission for two months, and she felt like her life had gone back to normal. But that didn’t last long. At a work event, after just a couple drinks, she began to feel queasy and then started vomiting so violently that a friend took her to the emergency room. When the 23-year-old New Yorker asked her doctor about the experience, he suggested she cut back on drinking if it was making her symptoms worse. Wanting to protect her health, she decided to quit completely.

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But for a 20-something working in a high-pressure job that required a lot of socializing with clients, it was hard. “Above and beyond being diagnosed with a life-long illness at 22, I couldn’t do one of the things that allowed me to fit in with my peers, colleagues, and clients,” says Aswani-Omprakash, who is now 40. Friends, dates, and co-workers would sometimes look at her like she had “nine heads,” she says, when she wouldn’t order a drink.

“Initially, I didn’t cope well,” says Aswani-Omprakash. “But then I learned to order a non-alcoholic beverage—cranberry juice, a mocktail, or water, even—with a piece of lemon or lime on the side. That way, no one would know what I was drinking.”

There’s no single answer to whether people with IBS or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can consume alcohol, experts say. As with certain foods, it requires experimentation to determine personal tolerance.

But the question of whether a person should continue drinking isn’t simply a matter of tolerance. That’s because alcohol can affect the efficacy of some IBD medications and mess with test results. It’s best for patients who want to continue to drink to talk things over with their doctors, experts say.

What does alcohol do to the gut?

Even in people with healthy digestive systems, alcohol can wreak havoc, says Dr. Alexandra Gutierrez, a professor of medicine and the medical director of the IBD Center at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. 

While light consumption—a maximum of one drink a day for women and two for men—is unlikely to cause serious problems, heavier drinking can mess with the microbiome, leading to increases in the bacteria that cause inflammation and decreases in the bacteria that help us digest food, Gutierrez says. Even among those who don’t drink heavily, some will experience diarrhea and cramping.

Increased inflammation associated with heavier drinking can also interfere with nutrient absorption. Worse, it can damage the intestinal lining and possibly cause “leaky gut.” That condition can lead to microbes, food, and toxins seeping out of the intestines, potentially causing problems elsewhere in the body.

Even among those who stick to the alcohol guidelines, some will have digestive problems, such as changes in bowel habits and worsening acid reflux, says Dr. Reezwana Chowdhury, an assistant professor of medicine and an IBD specialist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Read More: How to Be a Healthier Drinker

What about people with IBD?

While the occasional drink doesn’t always cause harm, “there’s a proportion [of people with IBD] who will certainly feel worse when they drink because of disease flaring,” says Dr. Jessica Philpott, a gastroenterologist at the Cleveland Clinic. “A lot of times a patient will say, ‘I went out for a beer with some friends and felt bad the next day.’”

When patients ask if they can drink in moderation, “I tell them it’s OK if they don’t have liver disease and it’s no more than two drinks in 24 hours for men and no more than one drink in 24 hours for women,” Chowdhury says. “When I go over their history, many will say, ‘When I drink I don’t feel good,’” she adds. “It’s not uncommon for a patient to say, ‘Before I was able to have three or four drinks on the weekend, and now I don’t feel good after just one beer.’”

Some patients pay attention to what their bodies are telling them, but “some just continue to fight the feeling,” Chowdhury says. “I worry about the alcohol causing damage. My overall take home is that drinking is not recommended.”

Alcohol can also impact the body’s ability to make the most of the food people consume. That’s because it pushes everything through the gut quickly, so there’s less time for nutrients to be absorbed—which in turn magnifies what IBD patients are already experiencing, says Dr. Nirupama Bonthala, an assistant professor of medicine and director of Women’s Health in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Perhaps even more concerning is the impact that alcohol can have on certain IBD medications. “There are a couple medications that alcohol can make less effective,” Bonthala says. “And it can cause lots of test abnormalities, especially with liver function tests. It can be hard to tell whether what we’re seeing on the tests is a medication issue, or the alcohol, or liver issues caused by the IBD.”

Depending on the timing of a patient’s drinking, some drugs may take longer to be metabolized, resulting in higher than optimal levels of the medication in the person’s system, Gutierrez says. Some doctors question their IBD patients about alcohol consumption and counsel them on the problems drinking can cause. Unfortunately, that’s not true of all of them.

Aswani-Omprakash says she’s never had a doctor talk to her about alcohol’s potential impact on IBD. Some doctors, however, feel that it’s very important to have the discussion. 

“I ask every patient about alcohol,” says Dr. Baldeep Pabla, an assistant professor at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. 

That’s because along with the potential impact on IBD symptoms, in heavier drinkers there can be damage to the liver and other organs, Pabla explains. “Alcohol is a heterogeneous and complex substance,” he adds. “So it affects people differently. And it’s one of the major causes of liver disease.”

A large percentage of patients, some 20% to 30%, take those dangers to heart, self-restricting because they feel that alcohol makes their symptoms worse, Pabla notes.

Read More: Why Bathroom Access Is a Public Health Issue

Does everyone have to quit drinking?

It’s possible for at least some people with gut issues to drink in moderation. Laura Goldenkranz was diagnosed with IBD when she was 36, and for years after that she completely cut out alcohol. “I was having a rough time with severe flares,” she says. “And with the combination of not feeling well along with all the medications I was taking, I just abstained completely.”

But a lot of things changed when Goldenkranz was prescribed a new medication—and that included her relationship with alcohol. Rinvoq put the 44-year-old New Yorker into remission, and now, she feels comfortable having an occasional drink in the evening. “I know that for some people, alcohol can really exacerbate their symptoms, but fortunately I’m now well enough that I haven’t noticed any impact.”

When it comes to drinking, Goldenkranz is happy that she didn’t develop symptoms when she was in her 20s. “I think it makes a really big difference when you’re younger,” she says. “If I had been dealing with this when I was in college it would have been an issue. I was drinking more then. By the time I was diagnosed in my mid-30s, it didn’t matter because I wasn’t drinking very much.”

There’s no question that younger people can feel stigmatized when they’re the only ones who can’t drink at social gatherings, Pabla says. The burgeoning market in non-alcoholic beverages may help with that, Pabla points out.

Are there certain types of drinks that are better than others?

There’s some research that suggests red wine might be the best choice for people who want to drink occasionally. In fact, Pabla says, some small studies have found that 1 to 3 grams of red wine per week might improve inflammation in the gut. In contrast, another study found that people who drank beer “had significantly worse endoscopic disease,” he says.

It makes sense that red wine would be the best choice since it’s rich in phenols, which are known to have anti-inflammatory properties, Gutierrez says.

Read More: How to Navigate Dating When You Have IBD

Are there signs that suggest it’s time to cut back or completely quit drinking?

Any time there’s a worsening of symptoms, it makes sense to consider the possibility that alcohol might be the cause. To determine whether drinking is at the root of digestive symptoms, “you can perform an experiment,” Pabla says. “Stop drinking, and if alcohol is the cause, you should see improvement within weeks.”

Routine testing may also reveal problems. “If there are actual lab abnormalities, it’s a sign that you need to take a break,” Bonthala says. Alcohol is not essential to your life. Good gut health is.

source https://time.com/7001249/how-alcohol-affects-gut-health/

What Joe Biden’s Decision Teaches Us About Leaders Leaving

President Biden is being celebrated among Democrats for his superb tour of duty and for putting the nation’s interests over his own by stepping out of the campaign.

Political pundits, wealthy donors, and prominent fellow political leaders were bewildered as to why President Biden resisted their pressure that he leave the campaign for so long. These critics didn’t realize that their pressures to push him out was backfiring. It appeared to take the confidential private reflection with trusted advisors to make the difference.

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The difficult decision to exit his close race for re-election showed the torment I have observed regularly over the past 40 years researching transitions. My insight draws upon decades of study of top leadership exits since my 1989 book, The Hero’s Farewell (Oxford University Press), a study on top leaders’ exits across sectors, countries, continents, and centuries.

Read More: Inside the Final Hours of the Biden Campaign

Top leaders are driven by two distinctive barriers to their departure: what I call Heroic Mission and Heroic Stature, both of which many Biden advisors and antagonists did not understand in trying to persuade Biden to leave the campaign.

Heroic Mission is a leader’s quest for a legacy in history with lasting impact. Biden saw the preservation of democracy as his vital purpose in his late career and sees Donald Trump as a great threat to American values of the rule of law, Constitutional governance, and respect for core governmental institutions like the courts, the military, government service as well as global trade, immigration, and international security alliances.

Driven by this elevated quest for immortality in reputation, he chafed at what he saw as short-term anxieties over his failed debate performance, certain that he would prove his valor in the weeks ahead. Biden was never a quitter, from his days as a child with a bad stutter and a family with uncertain income. He was used to rising above adversity and learned to discount the cynicism of self-interested party critics.

Read More: Column: Joe Biden’s Decision Upholds One of Our Greatest Presidential Traditions

However, until this weekend, he would not quit. He always believed in challenging fate and resented those trying to deny him his proven chances at resilience. Despite life’s adversity, Biden rose above it, accustomed to being underestimated.

At one of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute CEO Summits in 1991, former President Jimmy Carter sobbed before the assembled corporate titans confiding about the trauma he suffered by “being fired by the American public,” as he discussed his then new focus on Habitat for Humanity as well as his initiatives advancing global health and election reform. He promptly got a standing ovation from this largely Republican crowd and an outpouring of financial support. Dwight Eisenhower, in leaving office, was rapidly embraced by JFK as mentor, despite JFK’s victory over Richard Nixon, Eisenhower’s protégé.

The quest for Heroic Stature is drive to differentiate themselves as unique in society. Top leaders regularly confide in me about this are worried about moving from the topping the venerable “Who’s Who” list of influencers to falling to onlookers’ question “Who’s That?” Few top leaders are used to being one of the crowd. Top leaders want to be seen as unique, to differentiate them from the crowd and often recreate an heroic image of themselves. No one ever called Alexander III of Macedonia Alexander the Great until he invented that image himself and fabricated a lineage to such mythic leaders as Odysseus and Achilles—even believing it himself.

Through his entire for 54 years career, since age 29, Biden has been defined as an elected public official, since serving on the New Castle County Commission in 1970 and then in the U.S. Senate since 1972 until becoming Vice President in 2008. Imagining himself out of office leaves him with no easy identity. A violinist can retire from the orchestra into the role as a solo performer or member of periodic chamber quartets. However that transition from the orchestra is far harder for the conductor, as the conductor’s instrument for contribution was the orchestra itself, the organization left behind.

Read More: Momentum Builds Behind Kamala Harris—But Obstacles to Nomination Remain

When Johnny Carson retired as the undisputed king of late-night entertainment in 1992, he declared, just his audience peaked, “Everything comes to an end, nothing lasts forever. Thirty years is enough. It’s time to get out while you’re still working on top of your game and you’re still working well.” While pointing proudly to the new comedians he’d launched as successors, when Bette Midler sang a farewell tribute to him on his last show, he cried on camera.

These exits of such devoted public figures are emotional affairs not just the rational tradeoffs of game theorists. Too often leadership succession is focused on the rising stars and total disregard for the exiting incumbents, however heroic they were. Those who succeeded in reaching Biden to encourage reflection, did so with appreciation and sensitivity instead of threats and humiliation. Many celebrate Biden’s wisdom over his decision. I salute him over his lessons to us on the succession process.

source https://time.com/7001254/joe-biden-decision-leaders-leaving/

Biden Drops Out of Presidential Race, Endorses Harris to Replace Him

President Biden announced on Sunday he was ending his bid for a second term and endorsed Kamala Harris to be the Democratic Party’s nominee, upending the race for the White House less than four months before Election Day. The stunning move by Biden reflects the precipitous loss in confidence he faced within his party following a disastrous June 27 debate performance in Atlanta against Donald Trump.

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Biden made the announcement in a letter addressed to “My Fellow Americans” posted on social media.

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” the letter reads. “And while it has been the my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”

In a separate post, Biden said Harris has “my full support and endorsement.”

The historic decision makes Biden, 81, the first sitting president to cancel his re-election bid in over half a century, when Lyndon Johnson announced in March 1968 he would not accept the Democratic Party’s nomination amid disapproval over his handling of the Vietnam War.

Biden’s departure opens the door for the party to select a new, younger nominee at next month’s Democratic National Convention and lead the party’s ticket against the 78-year-old Trump. Although Biden endorsed Harris, 59, others have called for an open primary to decide on a new nominee.

Democrats were shaken in June when Biden, 81, stumbled his way through his debate with Trump, mixing up names and figures, losing his train of thought, failing to parry back against Trump’s lies, and struggling to describe his own accomplishments and vision for a second term. In the days and weeks after, a growing chorus of Democratic lawmakers and donors sounded the alarm, warning that Biden was likely to lose in November, potentially dragging down the party’s candidates across the country and handing the House and Senate to Republicans.

For weeks, Biden insisted he would stay in the race and worked overtime to shore up his main pillars of support: union leaders and the Congressional Black Caucus. He blasted Democratic donors and “elites” for trying to push him out of the race. But it wasn’t enough.

The list of prominent Democrats calling for him to step aside continued to grow last week and into this weekend.

“I will speak to the Nation later this week in more detail about my decision,” Biden wrote in his letter.

In a post on Trump’s Truth Social platform, the former President said, “Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve – And never was!”

Other Republicans echoed Trump’s suggestion that Biden lacks the mental capacity to finish out his term.

“If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President,” Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on X. “He must resign the office immediately.”

The prospect of Harris replacing Biden at the top of the ticket has drawn concerns from some within the party that she may be as weak or a weaker candidate against Trump. Biden has previously said he wouldn’t have picked Harris for vice president if he didn’t think she would make a strong President.

source https://time.com/6997832/biden-drop-out-presidential-race/