President Biden announced Sunday he would drop out of the presidential race, making him the first president since 1968 to not seek re-election.

Biden made the announcement on Sunday afternoon, with just 183 days left in his term, and 29 days before the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19, 2024.

On March 31, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced he would not seek re-election with 295 days left in his term, and 148 days until the party convention.

Before that, President Harry S. Truman announced he would not seek another term on March 29, 1952, and Calvin Coolidge announced he would not seek re-election on Aug. 2, 1927.

In U.S. history, only three presidents made and kept their promises to serve only one term.

President Rutherford B. Hayes announced in advance that he would serve only one term, and when his term was up he retired to Spiegel Grove, his home in Fremont, Ohio, in 1881.

President James Buchanan was another president who promised to serve only one term, and at the time, the nation was facing turmoil over slavery and nobody asked him to rescind his pledge.

Finally, President James K. Polk kept his promise to not seek a second term. He was succeeded in office by Zachary Taylor, a hero from the Mexican War and a member of the opposing Whig Party whom Polk despised.

Vice President Kamala Harris confirmed that she will run for the Democratic nomination for president after President Biden’s decision to suspend his re-election campaign.

‘I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination,’ Harris said in a statement on Sunday. 

Shortly after Biden posted a letter on X revealing his intention to end his re-election bid, he sent out a separate post endorsing Harris for the Democratic nomination. ‘Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,’ he said. 

The vice president called Biden’s decision a ‘selfless and patriotic act,’ adding that he is ‘doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the American people and our country above everything else.’

Harris has also received endorsements from former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as several Democratic lawmakers. However, many Democrats have issued statements on Biden’s decision without making mention of Harris or endorsing her. 

Democratic strategists noted to Fox News Digital that the vice president is in the best position to take on former President Trump with just months to the election. Several Democratic operatives pointed to the fact that Harris was voted for by the same primary voters that chose Biden, and she has already established a campaign and fundraising infrastructure going into the crucial contest. 

Biden’s decision to step aside comes after several weeks of mounting pressure for him to do so following a poor debate performance last month against former President Trump. Before his announcement, 37 congressional Democrats and those who caucus with them had pressed Biden to drop out. 

However, Biden had remained adamant that he was going to stay in the campaign up until his post to X. 

Republican lawmakers are calling on President Biden to resign from office immediately after he announced he will not seek re-election in November.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a statement, ‘If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President. He must resign the office immediately. November 5 cannot arrive soon enough.’

‘If the Democrat party has deemed Joe Biden unfit to run for re-election, he’s certainly unfit to control our nuclear codes,’ House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said minutes after the bombshell news broke. ‘Biden must step down from office immediately.’

House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., similarly said, ‘If Joe Biden can’t run for re-election, he is unable and unfit to serve as President of the United States. He must immediately resign. The Democrat Party is in absolute free fall for their blatantly corrupt and desperate attempt to cover up the fact that Joe Biden is unfit for office.’

‘If Joe Biden is unfit to be the Democrat nominee for president, he’s unfit to be president for the rest of his term. For the good of the country, Joe Biden should resign immediately,’ said Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern, R-Okla.

The 81-year-old president has been under mounting pressure to drop out of the 2024 presidential race in the wake of his disastrous debate performance against former President Trump last month. 

His weak showing spurred concerns over whether he had the mental and physical stability to run a campaign and serve another four-year term. 

Biden finally bowed to that pressure on Sunday, writing in a public letter, ‘It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.’

Democratic lawmakers who have called on Biden to drop out have insisted they are confident he can finish the roughly five months left in his term. 

Some of their arguments against his candidacy include that questions about his fitness for office are a distraction from the campaign, while others have said their concerns lie with where he will be four years down the road, rather than the immediate future.

But Republicans who have long claimed Biden is not mentally fit for office have seized on his announcement as vindication of their doubts.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., chair of the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, said in a statement, ‘If Joe Biden is no longer capable of running for re-election, he is no longer capable of serving as President. Being President is the hardest job in the world, and I no longer have confidence that Joe Biden can effectively execute his duties as Commander-in-Chief. It is out of concern for our country’s national security that I am formally calling on President Biden to resign from office.’

‘If this man CAN’T run for President with an election in just 4 months then who’s running our country?’ Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, wrote on X.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., wrote on the platform, ‘Doesn’t have the mental acuity or cognitive ability to run a political campaign but can serve for 6 more months as president? He should resign.’ 

Democrat politicians lavished President Biden with praise and predictions of a great legacy following his announcement that he is ending his re-election bid just months before the November election. 

‘President Biden has been an extraordinary, history-making president — a leader who has fought hard for working people and delivered astonishing results for all Americans. He will go down in history as one of the most impactful and selfless presidents. Thank you, @JoeBiden,’ Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., wrote on X just minutes following the revelation.

Newsom has been speculated as a potential Democratic candidate for president in 2024 for roughly a year, despite his own dismissals of the idea on several occasions. He has been one of Biden’s most high-profile surrogates on the campaign trail, continuing to promote Biden even after his poor debate performance last month. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement, ‘Joe Biden has not only been a great president and a great legislative leader, but he is a truly amazing human being. His decision of course was not easy, but he once again put his country, his party, and our future first.’

 ‘Joe, today shows you are a true patriot and great American,’ he added. 

Schumer had been made aware of the decision of vulnerable Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., to call on Biden to drop last week and told him to do what he thought was best, a source with knowledge told Fox News Digital. 

Another Democrat whose name has been the subject of presidential speculation, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, was also among the first to react: ‘President Biden is a great public servant who knows better than anyone what it takes to defeat Donald Trump. His remarkable work to lower prescription drug costs, fix the damn roads, bring supply chains home, address climate change, and ensure America’s global leadership over decades will go down in history,’ she said on X. 

‘My job in this election will remain the same: doing everything I can to elect Democrats and stop Donald Trump, a convicted felon whose agenda of raising families’ costs, banning abortion nationwide, and abusing the power of the White House to settle his own scores is completely wrong for Michigan,’ Whitmer wrote. 

Biden made the announcement of his campaign suspension in a Sunday afternoon letter, which he posted to X. 

‘It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president,’ the president wrote. ‘While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interests of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.’

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., praised him as well, claiming he ‘always put country first.’

‘Now the Democratic Party must unite behind a candidate who can defeat Donald Trump and keep America moving in the right direction. I will do everything in my power to help that effort,’ he said. 

His decision comes just weeks after his debate against former President Trump, during which his performance was widely criticized. In the days following, a total of 37 congressional Democrats and those who caucus with them had pushed Biden to step aside.

Following the announcement, Biden made a second post, endorsing his vice president, Kamala Harris, as the Democratic nominee for president. 

Former President Trump said President Biden ‘was not fit to run for president’ and is not — and ‘never was’ fit to serve. 

The Republican presidential nominee was reacting to Biden’s stunning announcement Sunday afternoon that he is suspending his re-election campaign. 

‘He is the worst president in the history of our country,’ Trump told Fox News Digital in a phone interview Sunday afternoon. ‘There has never been a president so bad.’ 

‘He is not fit to serve,’ Trump continued. ‘And I ask — who is going to be running the country for the next five months?’ 

Trump also posted on his Truth Social Sunday afternoon. 

‘Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve — And never was!’ Trump posted to his Truth Social. ‘He only attained the position of President by lies, Fake News, and not leaving his Basement.’ 

Trump said that ‘all those around him, including his Doctor and the Media, knew that he wasn’t capable of being President, and he wasn’t.’ 

‘Now, look what he’s done to our Country, with millions of people coming across our Border, totally unchecked and unvetted, many from prisons, mental institutions, and record numbers of terrorists,’ he wrote. ‘We will suffer greatly because of his presidency, but we will remedy the damage he has done very quickly.’ 

He added: ‘MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’ 

Trump’s comments come one week after he survived an assassination attempt and just days after formally becoming the 2024 Republican presidential nominee. 

Biden announced Sunday that he will suspend his 2024 re-election campaign amid mounting pressure from his Democratic colleagues on Capitol Hill, top donors and Hollywood stars after a disastrous debate performance last month.

The unprecedented announcement came as an increasing number of Democrat lawmakers had begun to publicly call for Biden to step aside and the party’s leadership reportedly was engaged in efforts to convince Biden, 81, he could not win in November’s general election against former President Trump, the 2024 GOP nominee who Biden defeated four years ago to win the White House.

‘It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president,’ Biden wrote in a public letter. ‘While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interests of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.’

Biden said he will formally address the nation later this week about his decision. 

‘For now, let me express my deepest gratitude to all those who have worked so hard to see me reelected,’ Biden wrote. ‘I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all this work. And let me express my heartfelt appreciation to the American people for the faith and trust you have placed in me.’ 

Biden added: ‘I believe today what I always have: that there is nothing America can’t do — when we do it together. We just have to remember we are the United States of America.’

Biden was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Wednesday, a revelation that came on the heels of several TV interviews and campaign appearances in which the president insisted he was remaining in the race. But the interviews failed to reassure supporters and provided critics — including those on the left — with further evidence that Biden was no longer up to the job.

Biden delivered a strong welcome address to world leaders at last week’s NATO summit in Washington, D.C. The showcase served as an opportunity to prove he was fit to continue his current term and eager and able to lead the nation for another four years.

For a time, it seemed Biden could survive the surge of calls for him to quit the race after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that they backed Biden’s bid. 

But Biden, who has long been known for a propensity to commit gaffes, continued to stumble. His missteps included a glaring error on the world stage at the NATO summit. While speaking on live television, Biden referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as ‘Putin,’ name-checking Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose invasion of Zelenskyy’s Ukraine has precipitated more than two years of hellish war.

Questions over whether Biden would end his campaign remained the top political story heading into last weekend.

But two blockbuster developments in rapid succession — the attempted assassination of Trump at the former president’s rally in western Pennsylvania on Saturday and Trump’s naming Monday at the Republican National Convention of Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his running mate — briefly halted the fervor over Biden for a couple of days.

But the call on Wednesday by Rep. Adam Schiff, the Democratic Senate nominee in California, for Biden to end his campaign, as well as reporting that top Democrats such as Schumer, Jeffries, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had frank conversations with Biden, quickly reignited the political crisis for the president.

Biden’s stunning announcement occurred during the roughest stretch of what was a more than year-long campaign for a second term. Doubts about his viability at the top of the Democratic Party’s 2024 ticket began seeping out into the mainstream after his halting delivery and awkward answers were placed on full display for a national audience during June’s presidential debate with Trump in Atlanta. 

Top Democratic fundraiser Lindy Li says it is getting more and more difficult to bring in donations for President Biden’s re-election campaign as calls for him to withdraw continue to mount.

Li made the statement during an appearance on Fox News Sunday with host Shannon Bream. Bream pressed Li on whether Biden should stay in the race and whether Vice President Kamala Harris is the right candidate to replace him.

‘Fundraising has — big money fundraising has slowed. People — major donors who have pledged massive amounts of checks, and I’m talking six, seven — seven-figure checks have suddenly disappeared, fallen off the face of the Earth, rescinded their pledges,’ Li said.

‘It’s just hard because a lot of these people are successful business people and they see the election as a business proposition. And they would only bet on a campaign if it’s a winning prospect. But it’s just — I wish I had better news, but I’m also not here to give you talking points. This is just the truth,’ she added.

Bream then asked about Harris and whether she is the best candidate to take Biden’s place if he withdraws.

‘Skipping over Kamala Harris would be political malpractice. Full stop, end of story. The base — our base, Black Americans in particular, is why we defeated Trump at all,’ Li responded.

‘It’s not my place to tell President Biden what to do but if he were to step aside, Vice President Kamala Harris would be an excellent candidate. She’s a consummate prosecutor and she’s out there every single day effectively prosecuting the case, litigating the case against convicted felon Trump,’ she said.

‘It would be a catastrophic mistake to skip over her,’ she said.

While Biden and his staff have publicly insisted that he is staying in the race, the 81-year-old is reportedly now asking whether Harris could win, according to the New York Times. Several polls show Harris matching or even exceeding Biden’s performance against Trump as waves of Democrats call on Biden to withdraw.

Harris stands as the most obvious candidate to replace Biden thanks in large part to her presumed access to the Biden-Harris war chest should the president withdraw. Any other candidate would face an uncertain path to accessing the tens of millions of dollars donated throughout the race.

The White House pushed back on the Times report in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying Biden is locked in on campaigning.

‘That claim is false and The New York Times did not ask us about it. As Jen O’Malley Dillon said, he ‘is more committed than ever.’ And as you heard from the President, he looks forward to campaigning this week,’ said White House spokesman Andrew Bates.