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We’ll probably never know the extent of Ronald Reagan’s cognitive decline during his second term.

Questions around the president’s mental acuity hovered around the septuagenarian’s Oval Office at the time. (Reagan was the oldest president ever — at least before Joe Biden and Donald Trump.) They got louder when he revealed his Alzheimer's diagnosis in 1994, five years after leaving office. They lingered after he died of the disease’s complications 10 years later. Though this will never be established as fact, the idea that the Reagan presidency was, in part, a puppet show starring a rapidly aging ex-actor has cemented itself in the popular imagination.

Republicans have spent the decades since his death putting even more words in Reagan’s mouth. The party has shifted rightward from the Reaganite version of conservatism, but still regularly paints their policy victories as another win for the Gipper. The authoritarian transformation of the Trump era has required a bit of branching out, where any dead politician of note may soon find themselves stumping for MAGA.

Take Lindsey Graham’s funeral in D.C. on Wednesday. Donald Trump couldn’t even be bothered to give an entirely positive eulogy. While Graham was deeply critical of Trump prior to a change of heart in his first term, Fox News host Sean Hannity was quick to paint the late South Carolina senator as a diehard for the Trumpist cause. 

“Lindsey probably has a heavenly version of Mar-a-Lago. It may even be a little bigger. I wouldn't be surprised if he added one big beautiful ballroom and an arch somewhere on the property,” Hannity said during his speech. “Because he would want to obviously duplicate his dearest friend in life. You.”

The panto extends to still living and serving politicians in Congress, piloted by flanks of aides and protected by the inertia of the D.C. machine. Mitch McConnell is still a senior figure in the Senate, despite his need to post monthly proof-of-life photos. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is pressuring him either to show that he remains alive and mentally competent or to resign. Whether the Democratic governor is willing to back up his tough talk by declaring the seat vacant and calling a special election remains to be seen. 

As politicians get older on average, these pensioner puppet shows will only get more common. The electoral victories of Biden and then Trump suggest that voters have few problems voting for elderly men showing evident signs of  mental decline. Their respective parties don’t seem to mind having figureheads who no longer seem able to express  opinions of their own. After all, once they pass on then they can be made to say anything.

What do you think? Sound off in the comments.

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