(NEXSTAR) – With President Biden dropping out of the 2024 race, he becomes one of only a few past presidents who decided to end their campaign for reelection.
Biden’s withdrawal, though, comes later than any previous incumbent candidate’s.
In recent weeks, Biden had insisted he would continue his campaign despite concerns over his age and mental acuity. But after calls from former supporters and high-ranking Democrats, the president dropped out on Sunday, July 21 — less than four months from the election.
No other president seeking reelection has dropped out so late. President Harry S. Truman, after serving the better part of two terms (and being eligible for another), pulled out of the 1952 race in late March, after failing to win over a majority of voters at the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary earlier that month. President Lyndon B. Johnson later dropped out of the 1968 election also in late March, amid low approval ratings.
There have been several other presidents who decided against running for a second term, though they all announced it before launching a reelection campaign. James K. Polk, James Buchanon, Rutherford B. Hayes, Theodore Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge all made it known in advance of the next election cycle that they would not seek reelection, with some announcing their decision very early on, or during their campaigns for a first term.
Those who didn’t immediately announce their intentions not to run again — Roosevelt and Coolidge — had also both succeeded to the presidency after the death of the previous president and then won reelection on their own (much like Truman and Johnson). In Roosevelt’s case, he pledged not to run for a third term while campaigning for his second — but he did indeed run again in 1912, ultimately losing to Woodrow Wilson. Coolidge announced in August 1927 that he didn’t want to participate in the 1928 election, claiming a second term was “too long” to be president.
In addition to the names above, there were also presidents who had already served two full terms (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, etc.) but declined to run for a third time, despite being eligible to do so. (The 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, put term limits on the presidency.)Biden, despite dropping out much later than the aforementioned presidents, has still afforded time for the Democratic party to rally around, and formally name, a new nominee. That, however, is a whole process in and of itself.
