April 12, 1945; President Franklin Delano Roosevelt has died. A little over eighty years ago, before the Second World War came to a close, the commander of the U.S. armed forces would die from a cerebral hemorrhage. His death was a shock to the world, from the public whom he served as their leader since 1933 to allies and adversaries abroad. How could a person with so much power just wither away into nothingness?
Time would tell us why: FDR had suffered from various medical issues since he was a boy. Most notably, he struggled with polio, a viral disease that affects the nervous system. The president would be unable to use his legs long before he held the highest office—something his advisors kept secret from the American public. They felt that a president who used a wheelchair would be less respected by voters and could have a harder time projecting strength in the global arena. While their reasoning may very well be backed up by stigmas of that time, it laid the groundwork for a national sense that this man held a status that transcended that of the average person. But then he died, just like anything else that has, is or will ever live.
We tend to hold a certain group of people to this status above ourselves. This group includes world leaders, CEOs, monarchs, celebrities, influencers and so on. Their high status is built upon the notion that the power they hold, whether given from the people, from a paycheck or an audience, means their existence outranks that of you and me. In other words, our life is below theirs.
This is wrong for many reasons, the first being that this diminishes our own ability to be successful and create change in our communities. One doesn’t need to be rich, have millions of followers or run a nation, to find prosperity, progress and happiness.
That said, the more important reason is this: at their core, these people are just people. They are clumps of cells, run by DNA. They are susceptible to everything from the common cold to cancer. They can break a bone; they can get a stomach bug; they can have allergies.
This is a fact regardless of whether you agree with them or not, or hold them to a higher status or not. Both President Trump and President Biden were infected with COVID-19 while in office. Steve Jobs, the creator of Apple, passed away at the height of his career in 2011 from natural causes. Even figures with preeminent standings, like King Charles III or Pope Leo XIV, may wake up one morning with a sore throat, a stuffy nose and a raging headache. While the power many of these figures hold may allow them better access to modern medicines, at the end of the day, they are only human and are faced with mortality, just like you and me.
This phenomenon isn’t limited to the rich and the powerful, and doesn’t necessarily produce a morbid result. Many celebrities will experience a mortality of fame at some point in their career, and many companies will see a mortality of profit. This happens for many reasons, a few notable ones involving consumer choice, public perception, and social standards.
Take Ellen DeGeneres, for example. For years, DeGeneres reigned supreme over cable television, Hollywood, and the comedy culture–with her talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, serving as her crown jewel. She voiced the character Dory in Disney Pixar’s Finding Nemo; she hosted the Academy Awards twice, in 2007 and 2014; and beyond this, she was an icon for many in the queer community. This is power–a much different type of power than that of a king or a billionaire, but power nonetheless. Even so, DeGeneres’ tenure at the helm of American media and comedy would abruptly end with her talk show in 2022. This cancellation of her show after 19 seasons followed a series of allegations related to workplace misconduct, which tainted her public image and subsequently toppled her professional empire.
Private corporations are similarly not immune from such issues. The public’s ability to boycott a company it feels is not aligned with the public interest, has long been a tool to eat away at profits, and force change from outside the boardroom. Recently, companies like Target and Amazon faced boycotts over the roll-back of DEI policies. The effects of these consumer decisions can reverberate throughout the economy, and push political progress as well. Famously, the Anti-Apartheid Movement successfully used the boycotting of South African goods and services to pressure the South African government to dismantle the institutionalized system of racial segregation.
It’s easy to assume that those who hold power are immune from the chaotic nature of our world; from natural disasters and geopolitical conflicts to diseases, and that it is the burden of the public to suffer. But, we must remember that they are just as weak as we are, and that we are just as strong as they are. They’re only human, and are only gods if we treat them like it. In the end, even if you are the richest person on Earth or command the most powerful military in history, you too can get the flu. Remembering that truth may be the most humbling yet democratic act of all.
