CBS News, November 2024
President Biden, 81, and former President Donald Trump, 78, have been the two oldest candidates to run for president, but in the grand scheme of things, they’re outliers. A look back at the list of former presidents shows the majority entered office much earlier in their political careers.
Data assembled by CBS shows that most U.S. presidents have been in their 50s on Inauguration Day. This aligns with Americans’ preferences: According to a 2023 Pew Research Center poll, about half of Americans said the best age for a U.S. president is someone in their 50s. Vice President Kamala Harris turned 60 in October.
