This article is part of a series about Joe Biden
Personal Early life and career Eponyms Family Honors Public image Age and health concerns Bibliography Promises to Keep Promise Me, Dad U.S. Senator from Delaware U.S. Senate career Judiciary Committee Bork hearings Thomas hearings 1994 Crime Bill Violence Against Women Act Foreign Relations Committee Elections 1972 1978 1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 47th Vice President of the United States Transition Obama administration first inauguration second inauguration Economic policy Great Recession response 2010 Tax Relief Act 2011 debt-ceiling crisis fiscal cliff Foreign policy Task forces Gun Violence Protect Students from Sexual Assault Vice presidential campaigns 2008 selection convention election 2012 convention election 46th President of the United States Incumbent Presidency timeline Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board Inauguration Efforts to impeach inquiry Tenure Executive actions proclamations Trips foreign '21 '22 '23 '24–'25 Geneva summit COVID-19 pandemic Afghanistan withdrawal Classified documents incident 2023 debt-ceiling crisis Policies COVID-19 WH Response Team Economy ARP IIJA IRA Electoral/ethics Environment Foreign policy AUKUS Camp David Principles IPEF War in Ukraine War in Israel Immigration border crisis Social issues guns cannabis marriage Appointments Cabinet Ambassadors Federal judges Jackson Supreme Court candidates Executive Office U.S. attorneys Presidential campaigns 1988 primaries 2008 primaries 2020 primaries sexual assault allegation Ukraine conspiracy theory convention debates election endorsements VP selection 2024 primaries debates election endorsements opposition withdrawal
v t e

At 81 years, 8 months and 6 days of age, Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States, is the oldest sitting president in United States history. ^{[1] [2]} Republican president Donald Trump and mass media raised concerns about his age, including his cognitive state, during and after the 2020 United States presidential election. These concerns increased after a poor performance by Biden during a debate against Trump in the 2024 presidential election, which led a number of commentators and some Democratic lawmakers to call for Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race. ^[3] He later withdrew his candidacy while stating that he would continue serving as president until the conclusion of his term. ^[4]

In February 1988, after several episodes of increasingly severe neck pain, Biden underwent surgery to correct a leaking intracranial berry aneurysm. ^{[5] [6]} While recuperating, he suffered a pulmonary embolism, a serious complication. ^[6] After a second aneurysm was surgically repaired in May, ^{[6] [7]} Biden's recuperation kept him away from the Senate for seven months. ^[8]

In 2018, when Biden was considering running for president, he consulted with friends, aides, and longtime supporters as to whether he was too old to seek the presidency. ^[9] By 2019, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, CNN, The Atlantic, the Associated Press, and Slate all published articles on Biden's age and fitness for office. ^[10] That year, in advance of the 2020 United States presidential election, many of his Democratic opponents used his age against Biden, who was 76 at the time. Biden supporters criticized this as ageist discrimination. ^[11] According to ABC News, Vladimir Putin and the Russian government spread disinformation about Biden's mental health during the 2020 presidential election, ^[12] and the Department of Homeland Security withheld publication of a bulletin warning law enforcement agencies about this campaign. ^[13]

During and in the years since the 2020 presidential campaign, Trump has claimed, without evidence, that Biden has dementia, calling him " Sleepy Joe" at rallies. ^[14] This angle has remained popular among right-wing media outlets. ^{[15] [16] [17]} On a couple of occasions during the 2020 campaign Biden called himself a "bridge candidate", leading some to believe he would not seek a second term. ^[18] The Biden administration has routinely aimed to make light of the president's age by poking fun and joking about it. This approach has been met with both praise and mockery. ^{[19] [20] [2]} The Biden administration has also been criticized for allegedly gaslighting or harassing journalists who asked questions about Biden's health or age. ^[21]

In 2022, a New York Times– Siena College poll found that 61% of Democratic voters wanted someone other than Biden to be the presidential nominee, citing his age as the main concern. Biden's aides dismissed age-related concerns as politically motivated attacks by Republicans. ^[22] James Carville, ^[23] Ezra Klein, ^[24] and The Economist called for Biden to not run again as early as 2022. ^[25] According to Biden's 2023 annual physical examination, he is in good health for a man of his age. Biden is on medication for non-valvular atrial fibrillation (a form of irregular heartbeat), has a mild sensory peripheral neuropathy, and has a stiff gait due to spinal arthritis and the aftereffects of injury. No signs of cognitive decline or dementia were noted. ^{[26] [27]}

According to a 2024 poll, Biden's age and health are major or moderate concerns for 86% of voters generally, ^[28] up from 76% earlier in 2020. ^[29] According to another 2024 poll, most of those who voted for Biden in 2020 say they believe he is too old to be an effective president; The New York Times noted that these concerns "cut across generations, gender, race and education". ^[30] The Wall Street Journal has reported that since 2023 or earlier, Biden's team has limited his schedule, personal interactions, media appearances, interviews, and unscripted exchanges in order to minimize concerns about his age and mental acuity. ^[31]

Upon concluding the investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents, special counsel Robert Hur suggested that Biden would be able to present himself to a jury as an "elderly man with poor memory" and wrote that his memory "appeared to have significant limitations". ^[32] White House lawyers disputed this characterization, ^[29] and Biden rejected the claim in a televised press conference on the day the special counsel's report was released; during the conference, he referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as President of Mexico. ^[33]

On June 27, 2024, Biden took part in the first presidential debate. The debate reinforced concerns about Biden's age, with Biden appearing confused and disoriented during its first half, giving meandering answers to questions, particularly on health policy. ^[34] The New York Times reporter Reid Epstein wondered whether voters would see him as someone physically able to run the country, even if they preferred his policies to Trump's. ^[35] Some Democrats were unsure whether he should continue his campaign. ^{[36] [37]} Many officials and foreign leaders who encountered Biden in the months or year preceding the debate noticed he was increasingly frail, tired, meandering, and less lucid in his speech. In many parts of Europe, this led to concern about a second Trump presidency. ^[38] Biden declined to undergo a cognitive exam such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, saying that he has "a cognitive test every single day" in performing his presidential duties. ^[39] It later emerged that a neurologist specializing in Parkinson's disease had met this year with Physician to the President Kevin O'Connor; O'Connor and the White House both said Biden was not being treated for the disease and that other officials use O'Connor as their physician. ^{[40] [41] [42]}

On July 17, 2024, Biden tested positive for COVID-19. He experienced mild symptoms, including a cough, runny nose, and "general malaise". ^[43] Images of him looking frail exiting from Air Force One on the way to isolation fuelled further speculation on Biden's health. ^[44]

This section is an excerpt from Withdrawal of Joe Biden from the 2024 United States presidential election.

On July 21, 2024, Joe Biden, the incumbent Democratic president of the United States, announced his withdrawal from the 2024 United States presidential election in a statement on social media. ^[45] He endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement as the party's candidate in the election. ^[46]

Biden had announced he would run for reelection as president in the 2024 election, with Harris again as his running mate, on April 25, 2023. ^[47] However, health concerns surrounding Biden emerged during his presidency, primarily about his age and ability to carry out a second term. These concerns spiked in June 2024, following a debate between Biden and Republican Party candidate Donald Trump. Biden's performance was widely criticized, with commentators noting he frequently lost his train of thought and gave meandering answers, had a faltering appearance, spoke with a hoarse voice, and failed to recall statistics or coherently express his opinion on several occasions. ^[48] Biden subsequently faced calls to withdraw from the race from fellow Democrats, ^[49] and also from the editorial boards of several major news outlets. ^{[50] [51]} By July 19, more than 30 senior Democrats had called for him to withdraw. ^[52]

Despite numerous calls for him to withdraw, Biden repeatedly insisted that he would remain a candidate. ^[53] On July 21, a signed letter was posted to his X account withdrawing his candidacy, writing that this was "in the best interest of my party and the country", while stating that he would continue serving as president until the conclusion of his term. ^{[54] [55]} Biden was the first incumbent president since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 to withdraw from the race, the first since the 19th century to withdraw after serving only one term, ^[a] and the first ever to withdraw after already winning the primaries. ^{[56] [58]}