Jimmy Carter's death at age 100 casts spotlight on 82-year-old Biden's record as oldest president ever to serve: gaffes spark fears over his cognitive abilities
- Joe Biden is the oldest living president in US history, following the death of Jimmy Carter at age 100
- Other former living presidents Donald Trump, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton are all 78 years old, while Barack Obama is just 63
Joe Biden is now America's oldest living president, following Jimmy Carter's death at 100 - having already clinched the record for the oldest president ever to take office.
Biden turned 82 on November 20, 2024, with questions mounting over his cognitive abilities due to his ongoing gaffes.
There are just four other surviving presidents. Donald Trump, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are all 78, while Barack Obama is 63.
President elect Donald Trump is the second eldest, having been born in June 1946. George W. Bush is third eldest, having been born in July of that same year, while Bill Clinton is the fourth eldest living president as he celebrated his 78th birthday in August. Obama turned 63 in August.
Only a handful of former presidents have lived past 90 years, including Ronald Reagan, Carter's successor, who lived to be 93.
The Carter Library posted a photo of Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn’s visit with President Joe Biden in May 2021, in Georgia, with a rather strange perspective that seemed to make the Bidens tower over their White House predecessors
President Joe Biden has become America's longest-living president at the age of 82. He is seen jogging along the South Lawn of the White House as he tried to get out of the rain following his annual physical health exam earlier this month
After Joe Biden, Donald Trump is the second eldest living president, having been born in June of 1946. George W. Bush is third eldest, having been born in July 1946
Bill Clinton is the fourth eldest living president - he celebrated his 78th birthday in August. Barack Obama turned 62 in August
Earlier this year, President Biden was described as 'healthy' and 'vigorous' and fit for office according to his doctor, after his annual physical.
White House physician Colonel Kevin O'Connor provided an update on Biden's health amid concerns over his age as he prepared his aborted 2024 run for president.
The results were largely unchanged from his last medical a year ago, aside from a lesion on his chest that was sent for cancer screening, and there was no cognitive test despite calls from Republicans.
The annual physical evaluation of the president came as multiple Republicans – including President Barack Obama's former doctor – demanded that Biden receive a cognitive exam as well, pushing fears he is not mentally fit for office.
Some experts expressed concerns that the results of his physical were 'sugar coated,' and didn't address cognition and memory issues.
Democrats were secretly concerned, but reluctant to raise questions over Biden's fitness for office. That ended after a disastrous debate with President-elect Trump.
In this picture from June 14, 1977, Senator Joe Biden (left) is seen with President Carter
Joe Biden, together with his wife Jill, met former President Carter and his wife Rosalynn in a sweet photograph released in May 2021.
The photo saw both Bidens appearing to loom large over the Carters, who were pictured sitting on two living room chairs, thanks to a wide-angled lens.
The photo was taken at the Carters' home in Plains, Georgia, to mark President Biden's 100th day in office.
After his own presidency ended in 1981, Carter, the 39th president, established The Carter Center and was awarded the Nobel Prize. He also wrote more than two dozen books.
Together with his wife Rosalynn, 96, he remained an active supporter of Habitat for Humanity, the nation's most prominent housing charity.
Speaking in 2019, ahead of his 95th birthday, Carter was asked jokingly if he'd want to run again.
Carter pictured in 2018 with wife Rosalynn, to whom he was married for 77 years
Carter was the longest-living of the 46 men to hold the highest American office of President
Jimmy Carter waves before the crowd on the floor of the Democratic Convention of 1980
Jimmy Carter pictured on his peanut farm in Plains, Georgia, in 1976
'I hope there's an age limit,' Carter responded. 'If I were just 80 years old, if I was 15 years younger, I don't believe I could undertake the duties I experienced when I was president.'
America's founding president, George Washington, was the youngest former president to die - at 57 years and 67 days - in April 1789, nearly three years after he left office.
In 2015, Carter was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma that was detected in his liver and had spread to his brain.
About six months after the diagnosis, he announced he no longer needed treatment, due in part to a groundbreaking medication that trains the immune system to fight cancer tumors.
He was hospitalized two years later for dehydration while building homes with Habitat for Humanity in Canada.
He was discharged and back at the work site the next day.
Carter with his wife Rosalynn and their daughter Amy at the Baptist church in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, in 1976
