Thirty-five is the minimal age requirement for the presidency, however there isn’t any upward restrict. The 2 final presidential elections, which introduced President Biden, now 81, and former President Donald Trump, now 78, to the White Home, are proof of this political actuality.
The Founding Fathers excluded a most age restrict from Structure, giving these of their golden years the power to run for the very best workplace within the land.
Based on Pew Analysis, 19 inaugurations have concerned presidents of their 60s and simply 4 have concerned presidents of their 70s. The median age for U.S. presidents on their first day in workplace is 55. Vice President Kamala Harris turned 60 in October.
The 2024 election cycle once more introduced dialogue about how previous is simply too previous for workplace, which accelerated after Mr. Biden’s on-air debate fumbles in June. The political firestorm led to his his determination to step apart because the Democratic nominee just a few weeks later. Critics have additionally raised concern about Trump’s age and competency.
Here is a have a look at the historical past of the oldest presidents — within the Oval Workplace and past:
Who have been the oldest U.S. presidents at election and in workplace?
The 2 oldest presidents ever to be sworn in are Mr. Biden, who was 78 when he took workplace in 2021, and Trump, who was 70 on his Inauguration Day in 2017.
Now that Mr. Biden has formally left the 2024 race, Trump is the oldest candidate. If he’s elected, he would eclipse Mr. Biden by just a few months because the oldest president ever sworn in at his Inauguration n January, six months earlier than his 79th birthday.
The third oldest president at his inauguration was Ronald Reagan, who was 69 when he was sworn in in 1981. “I’m not going to use, for political functions, my opponent’s youth and inexperience,” Reagan famously stated in 1984 whereas working for reelection in opposition to Walter Mondale.
In fourth place is the nation’s ninth president, William Henry Harrison. Harrison was elected in 1841 at age 68, however his tenure as president was short-lived. He died 32 days into his first time period, making his presidency the shortest in U.S. historical past.
Who’re the oldest dwelling U.S. presidents?
Jimmy Carter, who celebrated his a hundredth birthday on Oct. 1, is the oldest dwelling former U.S. president in historical past. Carter, a Democrat from Georgia, served one time period, from 1977 to 1981. He broke the longevity milestone in 2019, at 94 years previous, surpassing George H.W. Bush to develop into the longest dwelling president. Greater than 1,000 individuals not too long ago paid tribute to the previous president at a profit live performance forward of his a hundredth birthday.
After he left workplace greater than 40 years in the past, Carter saved busy constructing greater than 4,000 properties for Habitat for Humanity, traveled the world to advertise human rights and gained the Nobel Peace Prize.
The second oldest after Carter is Mr. Biden, who will flip 82 on Nov. 20, simply weeks after the election. Three former presidents, George W. Bush, Invoice Clinton and Donald Trump, all 78 years previous, roughly tie for third.
Full record of U.S. presidents, from oldest to youngest at finish of presidency
The record ranges from the present president, who will flip 82 within the weeks following this 12 months’s election, right down to John F. Kennedy, who was simply 46 when he was assassinated.
- Joe Biden, turns 82 on Nov. 20, 2024
- Ronald Reagan, 77
- Donald Trump, 74
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 70
- Andrew Jackson, 69
- James Buchanan, 69
- William Henry Harrison, 68
- Harry S. Truman, 68
- George H. W. Bush, 68
- James Monroe, 66
- George Washington, 65
- John Adams, 65
- Thomas Jefferson, 65
- James Madison, 65
- Zachary Taylor, 65
- Woodrow Wilson, 64
- Franklin D. Roosevelt, 63
- Gerald Ford, 63
- George W. Bush, 62
- John Quincy Adams, 61
- Richard Nixon, 61
- Andrew Johnson, 60
- Lyndon B. Johnson, 60
- Benjamin Harrison, 59
- Grover Cleveland, 59
- Martin Van Buren, 58
- Rutherford Birchard Hayes, 58
- William McKinley, 58
- Herbert Hoover, 58
- Warren G. Harding, 57
- Abraham Lincoln, 56
- Calvin Coolidge, 56
- Jimmy Carter, 56
- Chester A. Arthur, 55
- William Howard Taft, 55
- Barack Obama, 55
- John Tyler, 54
- Ulysses S. Grant, 54
- Invoice Clinton, 54
- James Knox Polk, 53
- Millard Fillmore, 53
- Franklin Pierce, 52
- Grover Cleveland, 51
- Theodore Roosevelt, 50
- James A. Garfield, 49
- John F. Kennedy, 46
