Joe Biden, 80 today, will not become the greatest Western leader ever

President Biden has just turned 80, but there is no lavish party today. Biden’s predecessors, Reagan and Eisenhower, celebrated the age of 70 in the White House as a big moment, but for Biden his age is a sore point he prefers to underestimate. “I can’t even pronounce that number,” he said recently in a radio interview, also noting that he felt fifty.

Fortunately, his birthday was overshadowed by the wedding of his 28-year-old granddaughter Naomi, who said yes to Peter Neal yesterday on the White House lawn in front of 250 guests. Today, the family celebrates Grandpa’s birthday with a brunch.

No American president has lived this long in the White House. The oldest president to date, Reagan, was just shy of 78 when he stepped down.

Some Americans have a problem with their president’s age, and some don’t at all:

Biden’s age matches the trend. His predecessor, Donald Trump, was 74 when he left the White House, and Nancy Pelosi resigned as the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives last week at the age of 82.

Other great powers were also ruled by chiefs who were called elders. Vladimir Putin recently turned 70, and he will be Chinese leader Xi Jinping next year.

Compared to this, most European heads of government are remarkably young. German Chancellor Schulz is already 64 years old, but French President Macron is only 44, Italian Prime Minister Meloni is 45, Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez is 50. And although he was prime minister for 12 years, Mark Rutte, although he was president For ministers for 12 years, he’s still only 55.

That’s old compared to Finnish Prime Minister Marin, who was 34 when she took office and turned 37 last week. British Prime Minister Sunak is still remarkably young: 42.

European heads of government were not always young. Charles de Gaulle was 78 years old when he stepped down as president of France, three years before the end of his term. Winston Churchill was 80 years old when he left 10 Downing Street. But this was nothing compared to Konrad Adenauer, who was nearly 88 years old when he resigned as West German chancellor in 1963.

In any case, Biden will not reach this age as President of the United States. If he runs for a second term and is re-elected, he will be 86 years old when he leaves the White House in early 2029.