Joe Biden

Joe Biden took the oath of office on January 20, 2021, at 78 years old — the oldest person ever inaugurated as president. He came to the office after nearly five decades in public life: six terms in the Senate, two failed presidential campaigns, and two terms as Barack Obama's Vice President. The country he inherited was gripped by a pandemic, an economic crisis, and a political system still shaken by the January 6 attack on the Capitol two weeks before.

Biden's legislative record in his first two years exceeded most expectations. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act — the largest climate investment in American history — passed through a narrowly divided Congress. He assembled a broad Western coalition in response to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, channeling billions in military aid while keeping NATO unified. The chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 cast a shadow over his foreign policy record that never fully lifted.

Age became the defining issue of Biden's final year. After a faltering debate performance against Donald Trump in June 2024 raised urgent questions about his capacity for another term, he withdrew from the race in July — the first sitting president since Lyndon Johnson in 1968 to abandon reelection under political pressure. He endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump in November, ending the Democratic administration after a single term.