As the presidential campaign season got under way and the nominating conventions for the 2024 election were around the corner, the Democratic incumbent, Joe Biden, repeatedly insisted that he would run for a second term and that he could defeat his presumptive Republican opponent, Donald Trump, in what would have been the first presidential rematch since 1956. However, it had become increasingly clear to political insiders that the aging president—he turned eighty-two near the end of his last year in office—was becoming unable to either carry out the duties of the presidency or conduct an effective campaign for reelection. This became clear to the public at large when Biden performed startlingly poorly in what was slated to be the first of several debates against Trump in June 2024. Under considerable pressure from Democrats in Congress and others, Biden made the decision to withdraw from the race.