The president is ill

The president is ill, the columnist writes, because the office itself imposes extreme pressures: relentless decisions, irregular sleep, constant tension, public surveillance, merciless criticism and threats to personal safety.

The article cites a Harvard Medical School study comparing elected leaders in developed countries with candidates who lost their elections. From 1722 to 2015, elected leaders faced a 23% higher risk of early death and had average lifespans about 2.7 years shorter than losing candidates, according to the study cited.

The writer says concern about President Lee Jae-myung’s health is not merely personal. A leader’s pain can become the public’s pain, and political psychologist Rose McDermott has argued that presidential illness can contribute to dangerous errors in foreign policy and national security. The column cites Franklin Roosevelt’s heart disease during the Pacific War, Richard Nixon’s psychological difficulties during the decision to bomb Cambodia, and John F. Kennedy’s medication use during his 1961 meeting with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

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Sufficient leave is not a president’s right but a duty.

The answer, the columnist argues, cannot be left solely to a presidential doctor. Past leaders failed when no one could challenge them and when too many decisions remained concentrated in their hands. Presidents should focus on the highest-level issues, create “red teams” to offer deliberate opposition, and receive enough time and space to recover. Sufficient leave, the writer says, is not simply a president’s right but a duty.

The column invokes the traditional court jester as a figure who could speak frankly while also offering healing. It asks whether Lee has such people around him, then broadens the concern beyond the presidency. Hatred, anger and merciless attacks in society can also reflect widespread depression, the writer says. The closing appeal is direct: the president needs both candid advice and rest.

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The president needs a jester.