Wits' end

Nothing is more momentous than a meeting between the leaders of the free world. The US president, head of the most powerful military and economic force the world has ever seen, and the British prime minister, who governs the country where freedom itself was born, shaking hands in the White House, the political nerve centre of the whole planet.

In past ages, the figures taking part in this unique political spectacle had the stature to match it. David Lloyd George and Woodrow WilsonThe US president during World War One. Wilson was a visionary who dreamt of creating a peaceful world through international institutions like the League of Nations, forerunner to the UN., Winston ChurchillThe British prime minister during World War Two, and later from 1951 to 1955. and Franklin D RooseveltThe US president between 1932 and 1942. The only president ever to serve more than two terms, he utterly transformed the face of his country, bringing in social programmes that have endured to this day., Margaret ThatcherBritain's first female prime minister and the longest-serving prime minister of the modern era. and Ronald ReaganThe 40th US President.: all imprinted their own image on the course of history.

But the two men who met in the White House yesterday do not command the same respect.

On the American side there is Joe Biden, the oldest president in the country's history and a self-confessed "gaffe machine". During his 2008 campaign for the presidency, he made a number of comments that were regarded as racist. During his 1988 campaign, he stole an entire speech from the leader of the UK Labour Party.

Former FBI Director James ComeyDirector of the FBI between 2013 and 2017. He attracted controversy in 2016 after he reopened an investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private emails server during the presidential election. Donald Trump fired him in 2017, alleging disloyalty. wrote in his autobiography that when then Vice President Biden attended meetings with President Barack Obama, he would waste time with long, unfocused questions before Obama was able to bring the conversation back on course.

Some of Biden's own advisers have admitted that he won the presidency partly by luck. The arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic gave them an excuse to hide Biden away from the public eye, since he could not hold rallies or meet voters under lockdown restrictions. As one aide put it: "You put your dumb uncle in the basement."

UK prime minister Boris Johnson, meanwhile, is lambasted by his critics for what they perceive as his laziness and poor understanding of his own job. He is also notorious for coming up with expensive, impractical ideas, like a £15bn tunnel between Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Some believe we live in an age of stupidity. It is not just Biden and Johnson: experts thought very little of the intelligence of Biden's predecessor. One journalist invented the term "Trump's razor", after the philosophical concept "Occam's razorNamed after English philosopher William of Occam (or Ockham), this is the principle that the simplest explanation for anything is usually the correct one.": the stupidest explanation for the president's action was always most likely to be the true one.

But others think there is nothing so unusual about this. People have always questioned the intelligence of their leaders. Like Biden, Reagan was mocked for his old age and his gaffes, and many suspected that he might be suffering from dementia. And George W BushThe president of the USA between 2001 and 2009. His victory in 2000 was controversial: he lost the popular vote and many believe he only won the election because the Supreme Court halted a recount of ballots in Florida. made so many bizarre comments and malapropisms that they came to be known as "Bushisms".

They argue that it is not really a question of intelligence, but optics. Anyone who spends their entire lives in front of a microphone, whilst working long hours in the world's most stressful jobs, is likely to say stupid things sometimes. Thanks to mass media and our charged political atmosphere, these comments then get blown out of all proportion.

Is this a golden age of stupidity?

Yes, say some. They claim that everywhere you look, the very stupidest people seem to be in charge: not just Biden and Johnson, but Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Justin Trudeau in Canada, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey. We seem to live in an age where stupidity is a prerequisite for holding power.

No, say others. Biden and Johnson are canny operators with years of political experience behind them. Those who call them stupid fail to understand an essential part of their appeal: their ability to seem normal, authentic and human at a time when many politicians look and sound like robots.