Withdrawal of Joe Biden from the 2024 United States presidential election facts for kids
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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. He endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement as the party's presidential candidate in the election.
Biden had announced that he would run for re-election in the 2024 presidential election on April 25, 2023, with Harris again as his running mate. Biden won an overwhelming majority of delegates in the 2024 Democratic Party presidential primaries and was already considered the presumptive nominee before the primaries were over. However, public concerns about Biden's age and health had emerged during his presidency, particularly about his fitness for the office and ability to carry out a second term.
These concerns spiked after a debate between Biden and Republican Party candidate Donald Trump on June 27, 2024. 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. Biden subsequently faced calls to withdraw from the race from fellow Democrats and from the editorial boards of major news outlets. By July 19, 2024, more than 30 senior Democrats had called for him to withdraw.
Biden repeatedly insisted for weeks after the debate that he would remain a candidate, despite numerous calls for him to withdraw. However, on July 21, 2024, he withdrew his candidacy via a signed letter posted on his personal X account, 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. Biden was the first incumbent president since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 to withdraw from a reelection race, the first since the 19th century to withdraw after serving only one term, and the only one ever to withdraw after already winning the primaries.
Contents
Background
Prior presidents who did not seek reelection
Historically, most sitting U.S. presidents who completed one full term chose to run for a second. The following presidents were eligible for reelection after completing at least one full term in office, but chose not to run:
- James K. Polk (in office 1845–1849): kept campaign promise to serve only one term
- James Buchanan (in office 1857–1861): kept campaign promise to serve only one term
- Rutherford B. Hayes (in office 1877–1881): kept campaign promise to serve only one term
- Calvin Coolidge (in office 1923–1929): chose not to run after serving one partial term and one full term
- Harry S. Truman (in office 1945–1953): withdrew from the race after serving one partial term and one full term
- Lyndon B. Johnson (in office 1963–1969): withdrew from the race after serving one partial term and one full term
Passed by Congress in 1947 and ratified by the states in 1951, the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution imposes a limit of two full terms on presidents. Prior to the term limit, many (though not all) presidents followed an informal two-term tradition after a precedent set by George Washington, who chose not to run for re-election after serving two terms.
Biden as a bridge candidate
During the 2020 presidential election, Biden had pitched himself as a 'bridge' candidate to a new generation of leadership, a stance that was analyzed critically as his campaign faltered in 2024. Five days before Biden's withdrawal from the race, Bret Stephens wrote an opinion piece for the The New York Times saying that Biden had "betrayed his implicit promise to be a one-term, transitional president. Had he stuck to it, he would have been spared the humiliation of last month's debate and Democrats would not be the dispirited and divided party that they are today".
Biden's candidacy
On April 25, 2023, after months of speculation, Biden confirmed he would run for reelection as president in the 2024 presidential election, with Vice President Kamala Harris again as his running mate. The campaign launched four years to the day after the start of his 2020 presidential campaign. On the day of his announcement, a Gallup poll found that Biden's approval rating was 37%, with most of those surveyed saying the economy was their biggest concern. During his campaign, Biden promoted higher economic growth and recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. He frequently stated his intention to "finish the job" as a political rallying cry.
Biden made protecting American democracy a central focus of his campaign. He also intended to increase funding for border patrol and security and increase funding for law enforcement coupled with police reform. Biden promised to support, protect and expand LGBT rights, and frequently touted his previous passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Chips and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, a landmark investment to combat climate change.
Biden made strengthening U.S. alliances a key goal of his foreign policy and promised to continue supporting Ukraine and Israel, describing them as "vital" to U.S. national security interests. Biden promised to continue efforts to tackle gun violence and defend the Affordable Care Act following comments from Donald Trump suggesting he would repeal the law. Biden proposed increasing taxes on the wealthy through a "billionaire minimum income tax" to reduce the deficit and fund social services for the poor.
Biden's trade policy was described as rejecting traditional neoliberal economic policy and the Washington Consensus that resulted in the offshoring of manufacturing and thus resulted in increased populist backlash. Biden proposed and enacted targeted tariffs against strategic Chinese industries to protect manufacturing jobs and counter China's technological and military ambitions. Biden was not on the ballot in the January 23, New Hampshire primary, but he won it in a write-in campaign with 63.8% of the vote. He had wanted South Carolina to be the first primary, and won that state on February 3 with 96.2% of the vote. Biden received 89.3% of the vote in Nevada and 81.1% of the vote in Michigan, with "None of These Candidates" and "uncommitted" coming in second in each state, respectively. On March 5 ("Super Tuesday"), he won 15 of 16 primaries, netting 80% or more of the vote in 13 of them. On March 12, he reached more than the 1,968 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination, becoming the presumptive nominee.
Israel–Hamas war protest vote movements
The Israel–Hamas war protest vote movements began as movements targeting Biden's policy towards the Israel–Hamas war. After a notable "uncommitted" vote in the US state of Michigan, activists sought to replicate the protest in other US states. A parallel Abandon Biden movement grew urging Biden to drop out of the presidential race. The uncommitted vote was the largest opposition to the Joe Biden 2024 presidential campaign and received higher vote totals than many contenders in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, including Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker, Beto O'Rourke, and Biden's vice president Kamala Harris. Uncommitted votes also achieved a higher percentage of the vote than the 2020 campaign of Pete Buttigieg, with only a fraction of the spending.
Biden's age and health
Biden was 78 years old at his inauguration, making him the oldest individual to assume the presidency. Biden was also older when he assumed the office than Ronald Reagan, the previous oldest, had been when leaving it. Health concerns surrounding Biden emerged during his presidency, primarily about his age and ability to carry out a second term. In a report in the Journal on Active Aging, doctors noted he had an "exceptional health profile" relative to his age, and a medical assessment performed by physician Kevin O'Connor attested to his physical acuity. The Washington Post's Dan Zak described the U.S. government as a gerontocracy with Biden's inauguration.
In July 2024, The New York Times reported that Kevin Cannard, a neurologist from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center specializing in movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease, visited the White House eight times within the last eight months, including a meeting with Biden's physician. The report generated controversy as O'Connor challenged it, citing Cannard's appearances during Barack Obama's administration and personnel within the White House who suffer from neurological disorders.
Debate with Trump
Biden was widely criticized after a televised debate against Trump on June 27, 2024, with many Democrats in particular criticizing the performance, in which Biden had a faltering appearance and spoke with a hoarse voice, and failed to recall statistics or coherently express his opinion on several occasions. Several newspaper columnists declared Trump the winner, and polling indicated the majority of the public believed Trump won. Following Biden's performance at the debate, many Democrats called for him to withdraw from the race, leading to political turmoil within the party that the media referred to as the "Biden crisis".
Debate aftermath
On July 17, ABC News reported that House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer had met with Biden on July 12 and 13, respectively, and had expressed concerns to Biden about Democratic losses in Congress. Biden reportedly told Schumer that he needed another week to make a decision. Jeffrey Katzenberg, a campaign co-chairman, reportedly warned Biden on July 17 that donors were stopping funding his campaign, although Katzenberg disputed that characterization of their discussion.
That evening, Biden tested positive for COVID-19. He experienced mild symptoms, including a cough, runny nose, and "general malaise". However, images of him looking frail exiting from Air Force One on the way to isolation at his residence in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, fueled further speculation over his health. The New York Times reported that Biden was "more receptive" to withdrawing his nomination. In phone conversations, former House speaker Nancy Pelosi told Biden she was pessimistic about his candidacy. On July 18, Axios reported that Democrats believed Biden would exit the election, citing pressure from Jeffries and Schumer, internal polling, and criticism. The New York Times reported that day that Biden was considering that he may have to withdraw. CNN reported that on July 20, Biden met with advisors Steve Ricchetti and Mike Donilon, during which they concluded that worsening poll numbers and a loss of party support had left the campaign without a plausible strategy to recover. That evening, Biden began planning a possible exit from the race with Ricchetti, Donilon, and other close aides, and he fully committed to the decision on the morning of July 21.
Prior to Biden's withdrawal, the word Joever, a portmanteau of Joe and over, was used by critics and media to describe the state of Biden's campaign. Though the word was first coined in a meme on 4chan's /pol/ imageboard in 2020, the word's usage in social media posts and major media stories spiked significantly following the debate.
Campaign reactions
Strategy
Following the calls for Biden to withdraw following criticisms to his debate performance, the Biden campaign employed a strategy to reduce the tenacity of comments seeking Biden's withdrawal until he was formally nominated in a presumed virtual roll call vote prior to the Democratic National Convention, which was described as in effect "running out the clock".
Policy
In response to criticisms following the debate, Biden announced several progressive policies, including Supreme Court reform to impose term limits and a binding code of ethics, a constitutional amendment to institute prosecutorial authority for presidential actions, a national assault weapons ban, and limiting rent increases. However, when announcing his plan to a meeting of the NAACP, he misread his teleprompter and erroneously claimed the cap would be at $55, not 5%.
Withdrawal
On July 21, Biden's official X account posted a letter announcing his withdrawal. In the letter, he wrote, "And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term". Later the same day, a post from the same account endorsed Harris, the vice president since 2021, as his replacement in the presidential race.
On July 24, 2024, in his first appearance since withdrawing from the presidential race, President Biden explained his decision. Speaking from the Oval Office, he stated that his reason was the "defense of democracy". Addressing the presidential campaigns, he remarked, "America's going to have to choose between moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division".
Replacement as candidate
Biden's pledged delegates were released by his resignation from the race. A candidate who receives 300 signatures from delegates will appear on the convention ballot. A candidate must receive a majority of delegate votes at the convention to become the nominee; if no candidate initially receives a majority of votes, an additional 700 superdelegates are permitted to vote on a candidate. Biden's endorsement of Harris notwithstanding, Democratic National Committee rules do not require these delegates to follow his recommendation and support his selected successor.
In a survey of delegates by the Associated Press on July 22, 2024, Harris became the presumptive nominee after receiving pledges from more than half of the delegates.
See also
In Spanish: Retirada de Joe Biden de las elecciones presidenciales de Estados Unidos de 2024 para niños
