Biden and Trump Are Oldest US Presidential Candidates Ever?

In a post made on June 26, 2024, the official Reuters X account claimed that U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have been the 2 oldest candidates ever to run for U.S. president. 

The 2 oldest candidates ever to run for US president will meet for a televised debate. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are tied in nationwide opinion polls with lower than 5 months till the Nov. 5 election. What to look at for: https://t.co/fDw7RIEPT4 pic.twitter.com/lxxfPVCg9R

— Reuters (@Reuters) June 27, 2024

The identical declare was additionally made in a March 11, 2024, op-ed debate published on CNN’s web site on Might 5, 2024, in addition to in a Fb post from the official account of U.Okay. newspaper The Guardian.

The reality is a bit more sophisticated. It’s appropriate to say that, when Biden and Trump formally secure their parties’ nomination for president in 2024 (that will happen at party conventions), they will be the 2 oldest presidential nominees representing a serious political celebration. However there have been older third-party and unbiased candidates. There have additionally been older presidential hopefuls who sought however didn’t obtain a serious celebration’s nomination. Because of this, we have now rated the declare as “Largely True.”

Trump, who was born June 14, 1946, first took the document for oldest presidential candidate nominated by a serious celebration in 2016, when he was 70. His opponent, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, was 69 years outdated on the time, making her the second-oldest main celebration candidate to run as much as that time, as The Washington Submit reported in 2016.

In 2020, Biden, who was born Nov. 20, 1942, and was 77 years outdated on the time, took over the first-place spot for oldest major-party presidential candidate, as The Related Press reported. Trump, then 74, was knocked to second place.

In different phrases, when Election Day rolls round, Biden will probably be 81 years outdated and Trump will probably be 78.

That stated, there have been older candidates who ran for president as third-party nominees or independents, in addition to older candidates who sought however didn’t safe nominations from main events. One such determine was Harold Stassen, a “perennial candidate” who unsuccessfully campaigned for the Republican Social gathering nomination 9 occasions between 1948 and 1992, when he was 85 years outdated. One other instance is fringe politician Lyndon LaRouche, who campaigned for the ultimate time in 2004, on the age of 82. 

As The Hill reported in February 2024, the phenomenon of superior age in major-party presidential candidates emerged pretty lately in American historical past:

Since 1976, the 2 events have mixed to appoint 9 presential candidates who’re 60 years or older, 5 of whom have been 70 or older. Within the interval earlier than 1976, the oldest nominee in American historical past, William Henry Harrison, was 67 when the election befell (and he died after a month in workplace). From 1880-1976, there have been solely 4 candidates over 60: Benjamin Harrison, Franklin D. Roosevelt (for his third and fourth time period), Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower.

In sum, it’s appropriate to say that, when the GOP and Democratic events formally nominate Trump and Biden for president, respectively, they would be the two oldest presidential candidates nominated by a serious political celebration. Nonetheless, they don’t seem to be the 2 oldest candidates to ever declare a presidential marketing campaign. Because of this, we fee the declare as “Largely True.”

Sources