Joe Biden: America's Part-Time President?
How Much Does Joe Biden Actually Work? Being the leader of the free world isn't just a full-time job – it is a position that never stops from the time one takes the oath of office and continues until the next person takes over four or eight years later.
It is literally an around-the-clock job, or at least should be.
As president of the United States there may be time to catch a movie in the White House's private screening room, shoot some hoops on a full-size basketball court, use a state-of-the-art golf simulator, or perhaps spend some intimate time with a White House intern – but one never really stops being on call.
President George W. Bush was told of the attack on the World Trade Center as he was reading to second-grade children during a school visit on 9/11, and President Lyndon Johnson famously took meetings while using the toilet. Bush was typically in the Oval Office by 6:45 am, and it wasn't uncommon for White House staffers and speech writers to get a call from President Barrack Obama after 11 pm.
Those men were known for their work ethic.
By contrast, President Joe Biden could be seen to be a leader that doesn't exactly rise and shine nor burn the midnight oil. Biden reportedly begins his morning with coffee with his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, and only settles down to work at around 9 am. He also tends to wrap up the day often no later than 7 pm and is often in bed by 10 pm.
While that might seem like a long day, especially for an 80-year-old, many Americans work at least as many hours daily in far more grueling jobs.
Aides have also suggested that Biden often works from just 10 am until 4 pm. Moreover, Biden's days are also spent on a lot of pomp and circumstance that comes with the job. The Washington Examiner reported that these include trivial activities such as taking questions from staffers' children. While other presidents have found such camera-friendly events tedious, Biden seems to revel in them.
However, such activities go with the job, they're not the actual job.
This is all made worse by the fact that Biden also tends to escape Washington, heading to one of his homes in Delaware practically every weekend. Though it is also true that the White House essentially travels with him, it still means that little work is actually done during the travel time. Even if aides and advisors travel with him and matters are discussed en route to his home, just the moving of the pieces almost weekly is an enormous time suck.
As of October 2022, Biden had spent more than a fourth of his presidency working from Delaware. In fairness, former President Donald Trump was just as guilty for his all-too-often jaunts to Florida.
Yet, the question remains – how many hours of actual work does Biden do? Biden, like many recent presidents, also spends a great deal of time traveling around the country to "sell" Americans on his latest proposal or initiative. Again, all recent presidents have made these trips, but this is one part of the job Biden loves as it takes him out of the Oval Office, and allows him to put on his blue-collar persona as he meets the American public. Biden could be described as a gifted storyteller, as he loves telling personal tales to the audience (even if the factualness of his statements is put into question).
Again, this is something that goes with the job, it isn’t the actual job.
This is an issue that will only get worse as Joe Biden will soon hit the campaign trail. One can only ponder whether he'll actually do a full day's work at all in 2024.
Author Experience and Expertise:
Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.