For the first time in US history, there’s an octogenarian in the Oval Office.
President Joe Biden turned 80 on Sunday, a milestone that comes as the aging commander-in-chief weighs the prospect of running for reelection amid a stronger than expected showing by Democrats in the midterm elections.
If Biden successfully ran for a second term, he would be 86 at its end.
In a romantic post Sunday afternoon from Jill Biden, the First Lady tweeted: “There’s no one else I’d rather dance with than you,” declaring her love with a pair of heart emojis.
The gaffe-prone president has sought to ward off concerns about age-related declines in mental and physical stamina — even as he’s acknowledged his advanced age is a “legitimate” concern to voters.
“And I think the best way to make the judgment is to watch me. Am I slowing up? Do I have the same pace?” he asked voters in an MSNBC interview last month.
Biden, who recently said he “felt 50,” has asserted he’s confident he could again beat former President Donald Trump again in 2024.
Trump, 76 who launched his third consecutive bid for the White House last week amid relentless attacks on the aging Democrat, would himself be 82 if he was elected to a non-consecutive term.
Biden’s confidence in a head-to-head rematch was buoyed by the Election Day failure of nearly two dozen of the candidates endorsed by the would-be GOP kingmaker,. But Biden had yet to make a firm decision as he huddled with aides to lay the groundwork for another campaign.
Some Democratic strategists are concerned that a delay in an announcement until next year would be detrimental to the party. No potential prominent Democrats have expressed interest in the big job, in deference to Biden.
An October poll found that 64% of Americans were “concerned” about Biden’s mental health, up from 59% in August. The issue reverberated across both sides of the aisle, with more than half of Democrats surveyed expressing concern about his age.
A June CNN poll found that 75% of Democrats wanted the president to sit out the next campaign season.
The last time a president who was not elevated to the White House through succession elected not to run for a second term was in 1880, when Rutherford Hayes honored his 1876 campaign pledge to serve for four years.
Before the Democrat’s tenure, Ronald Regan was the oldest US president, serving until he was 77.
Biden’s milestone came days after 82-year-old House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she would retire from Congress after her party narrowly lost control of the House.
The President planned to celebrate his big day with a White House family brunch hosted by his wife Jill Biden, 71, according to Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
His shindig came a day after his 28-year-old granddaughter, Naomi Biden, wed fellow attorney Peter Neal, 25, at a White House ceremony.
At the time of Biden’s 1942 birth, allied forces had ended the Axis powers’ Siege of Malta during World War II, and Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” was at the top of the charts.
