President Joe Biden Formally Launches 2024 Reelection Campaign

Biden is now the clear Democratic front-runner in the upcoming presidential election, even as he'd be a record-breaking 86 years old by the end of his second term

President Joe Biden formally announced early Tuesday that he will seek a second term in the White House, declaring his 2024 candidacy for president four years to the day after launching his bid for the 2020 nomination.

At 80 years old, Biden is the first octogenarian to hold the title of U.S. president, raising skepticism about whether he will be fit to serve an additional four years when his term ends in 2025. But the Democratic commander-in-chief isn't ready to end his political career, arguing that his tenure as president thus far has proven him capable of carrying Americans through hard times, especially in the fight against Republican extremism.

"When I ran for president four years ago, I said we are in a battle for the soul of America. And we still are," he said in narration in a three-minute campaign video shared across social media that included images of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, as well as protests from abortion rights activists.

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"The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom; more rights or fewer," Biden continued. "I know what I want the answer to be and I think you do too. This is not a time to be complacent. That's why I'm running for reelection — because I know America. I know we're good and decent people. I know we're still a country that believes in honesty, respect, and treating each other with dignity. We're a nation where we give hate no safe harbor. We believe that everyone is equal, that everyone should be given a fair shot to succeed in this country."

Biden's announcement on Tuesday is no surprise. Just two weeks ago, while celebrating Easter on the White House lawn, the president told the Today show's Al Roker in a live interview that he planned on running in 2024 but wasn't ready to make the news official.

In 2019, top campaign advisers told Politico that Biden privately planned to be a one-term president, with the goal of unseating President Donald Trump and potentially positioning his vice president to take over in 2024. But once Biden got into the position, attitudes seem to have changed as he began priming voters to get behind him for a second term.

More recently, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been appearing at events with Democratic donors to tout their accomplishments ahead of the anticipated 2024 announcement. Harris was featured heavily in Biden's campaign video on Tuesday, too.

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In his first two years as president, Biden was able to follow through on many of his campaign promises, enacting a significant amount of legislation that's touched on several issues.

The American Rescue Plan helped protect Americans from COVID-19 and gave low-income families some extra cash to get through the pandemic; the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill allotted $1 trillion toward improving infrastructure and transportation, establishing broadband internet in rural communities and guaranteeing clean drinking water; the CHIPS and Science Act allotted funding for the U.S. to manufacture important electronic parts that reduce our reliance on China; and the Inflation Reduction Act is hailed as one of his biggest feats, working to fight climate change, enhance health care coverage and reduce the deficit.

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Biden also lobbied for the first major piece of gun safety legislation in decades, responding to the tragic elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law shortly before Republicans regained a majority in the House, enshrining federal protections for same-sex marriage.

He has been praised by members of his party for championing diversity in all forms, from choosing Harris as his running mate, to appointing a diverse group of Cabinet and staff members, to putting Ketanji Brown Jackson on the Supreme Court.

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But the president's accomplishments have been largely overshadowed, as he's taken the brunt of the blame for widespread economic woes and is being investigated for his handling of classified documents, an issue also plaguing Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.

With the economy on everybody's minds, Biden's approval ratings have suffered; coupled with his age, there's no doubt that he has a lot of convincing to do if he wants to earn voters' support in 2024. Some Democrats who have praised his legislative wins remain doubtful that he'll be able swing undecided voters and secure an Electoral College victory in the next election, leaving uncertainty about the party's political future.

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