Even more striking to me are the political, social, and cultural resemblances I detect between the U.S. and the USSR. Gerontocratic leadership was one of the hallmarks of late Soviet leadership, personified by the senility of Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, and Konstantin Chernenko. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But by current American standards, the later Soviet leaders were not old men. Brezhnev was 75 when he died in 1982, but he had suffered his first major stroke seven years before. Andropov was only 68 when he succeeded Brezhnev, but he suffered total kidney failure just a few months after taking over. Chernenko was 72 when he came to power. He was already a hopeless invalid, suffering from emphysema, heart failure, bronchitis, pleurisy, and pneumonia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is a reflection of the quality of healthcare enjoyed by their American counterparts today that they are both older and healthier. Nevertheless, Joe Biden (81) and Donald Trump (78) are hardly men in the first flush of youth and vitality, as The Wall Street Journal<\/a><\/em> recently made cringe-inducingly clear. The former cannot distinguish between his two Hispanic cabinet secretaries, Alejandro Mayorkas and Xavier Becerra. The latter muddles up Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi. If Kamala Harris has never watched The Death of Stalin<\/a><\/em>, it\u2019s not too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another notable feature of late Soviet life was total public cynicism about nearly all institutions. Leon Aron\u2019s brilliant book Roads to the Temple<\/a> <\/em>shows just how wretched life in the 1980s had become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> "Are We the Soviets?" After four happy years at @opinion<\/a>, it was time for a change. So here's my first column for @TheFP<\/a>, with thanks to @bariweiss<\/a> for recruiting me to her happy band. https:\/\/t.co\/Zwxj3ChLLb<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/cyK0xHX7tQ<\/a><\/p>— Niall Ferguson (@nfergus) June 18, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>