If you’re asking who is the president of the United States in 2024, you aren't just looking for a name. You're probably looking for a bit of sanity in what was easily one of the most chaotic years in American political history.
Let's get the big answer out of the way immediately. Joe Biden was the President of the United States for the entirety of 2024. He didn't quit halfway through. He didn't resign. Despite the absolute whirlwind of news cycles that suggested otherwise, Joe Biden remained the 46th president from January 1st right through to New Year's Eve. But man, "staying in office" is only about 10% of the actual story here. To really understand the 2024 presidency, you have to look at the massive shift that happened during that sweaty, high-stakes summer.
The Year Biden Almost Wasn't
Honestly, 2024 started out looking like a standard—if grueling—rematch. You had Biden in the White House and Donald Trump vacuuming up Republican primary votes. For the first few months, the "incumbent" was the guy.
Biden was out there touting the "Bidenomics" platform. He was talking about the CHIPS Act and how the economy was growing at roughly $2.8%$. He was dealing with two massive, grinding foreign wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Then June 27th happened.
The first presidential debate in Atlanta was, to put it mildly, a disaster for the sitting president. Biden appeared frail. He lost his train of thought. He struggled to finish sentences. It wasn't just a "bad night"; it was the kind of performance that makes an entire political party reconsider its life choices.
For the next three weeks, the world watched a sitting president essentially fight for his political life against his own allies.
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July 21: The Social Media Shockwave
If you were on your phone on Sunday, July 21, 2024, you probably remember where you were. Biden posted a letter to X (formerly Twitter) announcing he was dropping out of the 2024 race.
He didn't resign the presidency, though.
That’s a distinction a lot of people get tripped up on. He stayed in the Oval Office. He kept the "Nuclear Football." He just decided he wasn't the guy to lead the ticket for another four years. Within minutes, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. It was the first time an eligible incumbent president had bowed out this late in the game since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968.
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So, from August to November, we had a weird "lame duck" energy that didn't feel like a lame duck period. Biden was still the president. He was still signing executive orders and negotiating prisoner swaps—like the massive one in August that brought Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan home from Russia.
But the spotlight? That was gone.
The spotlight moved entirely to Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Biden became a background character in his own final year. He was "President Biden" in the history books, but "Joe" in the campaign ads—a man finishing a long career while his VP tried to convince the country to keep his administration's policies in place.
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The Numbers That Defined the Biden 2024 Term
While everyone was focused on the rallies, the actual business of being president was still churning. If you look at the data, the 2024 presidency was defined by a massive tug-of-war between high growth and high prices.
- The Jobs Story: Employment grew every single month Biden was in office. By the time 2024 was wrapping up, the administration was boasting about 16 million new jobs created since 2021.
- The Inflation Problem: This is what really stuck in people's teeth. Even though inflation started to cool down toward $2.4%$ or $3%$ by late 2024, the "sticker shock" from 2022 and 2023 was still there. People were still paying way more for eggs and gas than they were in 2020.
- The Stock Market: On the flip side, the S&P 500 was hitting record highs. If you had a 401(k), the 2024 presidency was actually pretty good to you.
The November Shift
On November 5, 2024, the country made a choice. Donald Trump won a decisive victory, clinching 312 electoral votes and even winning the popular vote—something he hadn't done in 2016.
Immediately, the answer to "who is the president" started to feel like a trick question.
Legally, it was still Biden. But practically? The world started looking toward Mar-a-Lago. Between November 6th and December 31st, Biden was the "lame duck" president, while Trump was the "President-elect."
The transition was, surprisingly, a bit more traditional than the 2020 one. Biden invited Trump to the Oval Office on November 13th. They sat by the fireplace. They shook hands. Biden told him, "Welcome back." It was a surreal moment for anyone who had watched the previous four years of vitriol.
Why Does It Matter Who Was President in 2024?
You care because 2024 was a bridge. It was the year the "post-COVID" era officially ended and a new, more nationalistic era began.
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Biden’s 2024 was about trying to "finish the job." He focused on:
- Lowering Drug Costs: The $35$ cap on insulin for seniors was a massive win he talked about constantly.
- Infrastructure: Projects funded by his 2021 bill were finally breaking ground all over the country in 2024.
- Climate: Huge investments in EV chargers and green energy.
But the electorate was restless. There was a deep anti-incumbent mood not just in the US, but globally. People were tired of high prices and felt like the "system" wasn't working. Even though Biden was the president, he couldn't seem to shake the feeling that he was a man from a different era of politics.
Final Takeaway: The 2024 Reality
If you're writing a report or just trying to settle a bet: Joe Biden was the President of the United States in 2024. Donald Trump didn't take over until January 20, 2025.
However, 2024 will always be remembered as the year of the "Switch." It was the year Biden realized his own limitations, stepped aside, and watched the country pivot back toward his predecessor. It was a year of incredible economic contradictions and unprecedented political drama.
Actionable Insights for History Buffs
- Check the dates: Always distinguish between the "President" and the "President-elect" when looking at November/December 2024 news.
- Look at the Executive Orders: Biden was very active in his final months, particularly on environmental protections and student debt relief efforts (many of which faced court challenges).
- Follow the Transition: To understand how the government changed, look at the "Trump-Vance Transition" announcements that started in late November 2024.
Next time someone asks you who was in charge during the Great Election Chaos of '24, you can tell them it was Biden's desk, but it was already Trump's world by the time the Christmas trees went up in the East Room.
To get a clearer picture of how this transition affected federal policy, you can review the official White House archives for 2024 or look into the "Second Presidential Transition of Donald Trump" for the specific cabinet picks that began to shift the national conversation before the year even ended.