美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)将于周日庆祝他的80岁生日，这是在任总统首次达到这一里程碑，并引发了人们对他的高龄将如何影响其政治未来的猜测。
拜登是2021年1月就任总统的最年长的人，距离他的78岁生日只有61天。他说，他打算再次问鼎白宫，尽管他的同龄人，包括82岁的众议院议长南希·佩洛西，已经决定放弃领导权，为年轻一代让路。
“我的意图是，我会再次运行。但我非常尊重命运，这最终是一个家庭的决定。我想每个人都希望我参选，但我们会就此进行讨论。我并不急于做出这样的判断。”他上周说，在掌舵后，许多人说是最成功的中期选举对于几十年来在任总统的政党来说，尽管指出这些结果不会对他再次竞选的决定产生影响。
拜登是美国历史上担任总司令年龄最大的人。如果他在2024年寻求连任并获胜，总统将在第二个任期结束时86岁。他说他会在假期和妻子及其他家人讨论他的未来。
拜登表示，他希望他和他的妻子“在圣诞节和感恩节之间有一点时间偷偷溜走一周”，他竞选连任的决定可能会“在明年年初做出判断。”
在周五的白宫新闻发布会上，新闻秘书郭佳欣·让-皮埃尔说，第一夫人将在拜登生日的周日为他举行早午餐，前一天他的孙女娜奥米在白宫举行了婚礼。
“通常，他们在感恩节前的周三庆祝，因为每个人都将在这个周末来这里，他将有机会在他真正想要的日子庆祝他的生日，”她说。
拜登的生日就在佩洛西之后几天，全国的话题都集中在民主党领导层高层的年龄上宣布的随着众议院民主党人在下届国会成为少数派，她将辞去领导职务。
她在众议院的告别演说中说:“新一代人领导我深深尊敬的民主党核心小组的时候到了。”。
在她宣布后的一份冗长的声明中，拜登提到了他与佩洛西的长期历史。
他说:“在我的参议员、副总统和现在的总统生涯中，我见过她在行动中的表现。”。
83岁的众议院多数党领袖斯泰尼·霍耶和82岁的众议院多数党党鞭吉姆·克莱本也是如此宣布的佩洛西宣布后不久，他们将辞去领导职务。
纽约众议员哈基姆·杰弗里斯，52岁，正式公开宣布的他在周五竞选民主党领袖。59岁的众议员凯瑟琳·克拉克(Katherine Clark)将争夺少数党党鞭，43岁的皮特·阿吉拉尔(Pete Aguilar)将竞选党团主席，为众议院民主党人的最高职位带来一代人的转变。
关于民主党的未来，佩洛西告诉记者，“这取决于他们，我希望它成为他们想要的任何东西。”
几个月来，佩洛西一直支持拜登，质疑他的政治未来，特别是再次竞选白宫。
当ABC新闻的乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯问“本周”上周日佩洛西说，她认为拜登应该再次参选。
“是的，我愿意。我的意思是，拜登总统是我们国家的伟大总统。他取得了如此多的成就，”她说。"他是一位伟大的总统，他有着辉煌的历史。"
拜登在公共生活中以其漫长的个人悲剧历史而闻名，他一直坚持认为，对于他作为他的政党和国家的旗手前进的决定，他是“命运的尊重者”。
“命运多次干涉我的生活。如果我现在很健康的话-健康的身体。事实上，我会再次竞选，”他在白宫接受美国广播公司新闻部大卫·穆尔的采访时说去年年底。
但他面临着大量的反对——来自民主党和共和党——围绕他看似可能继续竞选连任的决定。
一份美国广播公司新闻/华盛顿邮报投票调查发现，56%的民主党人和倾向于投票给民主党人的无党派人士表示，他们希望“拜登以外的人”参加下届总统选举。
一些民主党人表示，他们希望拜登为“新一代领导”让位，呼应佩洛西在她离开控制权时所说的话。
在竞选期间，俄亥俄州众议员蒂姆·瑞恩和明尼苏达州众议员迪安·菲利普斯等民主党人公开表示暗示的他不应该竞选下一届。
Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi wait before President Barack Obama makes his health care joint address to the U.S. Congress on Sept. 9, 2009, at the U.S. Capitol.
CQ-通过盖蒂图片社点名，文件
如果拜登宣布2024年问鼎白宫，他的健康和精神敏锐度肯定会受到严格审查，特别是来自共和党人的审查，他们长期以来一直嘲笑他在演讲中臭名昭著的失态以及其他运动技能失误。
9月，拜登询问印第安纳州共和党众议员杰姬·沃洛斯基的下落，她在今年早些时候的一场车祸中丧生，在一次白宫会议上。
到目前为止，2024年总统竞选的唯一候选人是76岁的前总统唐纳德·特朗普发射周二晚上他的第三次白宫竞选。特朗普是第二年长的总统候选人，70岁。
Biden turning 80 as 'new generation' of Democratic leaders takes control in Congress
President Joe Biden will celebrate his 80th birthday on Sunday, marking the first time a sitting president has reached that milestone while in office and fueling speculation about how his advancing age will affect his political future.
Biden -- who was the oldest person to assume the presidency in January 2021, just 61 days after his 78th birthday -- has said he intends to make another White House bid, even as his age-adjacent peers, including 82-year-old House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have made the decision to step away from leadership in order to make way for a younger generation.
"My intention is that I will run again. But I'm a great respecter of fate and this is ultimately a family decision. I think everybody wants me to run but we're going to have discussions about it. And I don't feel any hurry one way or the other to make that judgment." he said last week, after helming what many say is the most successfulmidterm electionfor a sitting president's party in decades, though noting that those results would not have an impact on his decision to run again.
Biden is the oldest person to serve as commander in chief in the nation's history. Should he seek reelection in 2024 and win, the president would be 86 by the end of his second term. He has said he'll talk over his future with his wife and the rest of his family over the holidays.
Biden has said he is hoping that he and his wife "get a little time to actually sneak away for a week around between Christmas and Thanksgiving" and that his decision to run for reelection will likely "be early next year we make that judgment."
During a White House briefing with reporters on Friday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the first lady would be having a brunch for Biden on Sunday for his birthday, following his granddaughter Naomi's wedding at the White House the previous day.
"Usually, they celebrate on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving because everyone is going to the family is going to be here this weekend, he will have an opportunity to celebrate his birthday he wanted on his actual day," she said.
Biden's birthday comes right as national conversation is focused on the age of those at the top of Democratic leadership, just days after Pelosiannouncedthat she would step down from leadership as House Democrats transition into the minority for the next Congress.
"The hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus that I so deeply respect," she said during her farewell speech on the House floor.
In a lengthy statement after her announcement, Biden noted his long history with Pelosi.
"I've seen her in action during my career as Senator, Vice President, and now as President," he said.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, 83, and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, 82, alsoannouncedthey would step aside from their leadership posts shortly after Pelosi's declaration.
New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, 52, officiallydeclaredhis bid for Democratic leader on Friday. Reps. Katherine Clark, 59, will vie for minority whip and Pete Aguilar, 43, is bidding to be caucus chair, ushering in a generational shift in House Democrats' top spots.
On the future of the Democratic Party, Pelosi told reporters, "That's up to them, I want it to be whatever they want it to be."
Pelosi has maintained support for Biden throughout months of questions about his political future, particularly another run for the White House.
When asked by ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on"This Week"last Sunday, Pelosi said she thinks Biden should run again.
"Yes, I do. I mean President Biden has been a great president for our country. He has accomplished so much," she said. "He has been a great president, and he has a great record to run on."
Biden, known in public life for his long history of personal tragedy, has maintained that he is a "respecter of fate" regarding his decision to move forward as standard-bearer for his party and the nation.
"Fate has intervened in my life many many times. If I'm in the health I'm in now -- from a good health. And, in fact, I would run again," he said during a sit down interview at the White House with ABC News' David Muirlate last year.
But he's faced a good deal of opposition–from both Democrats and Republicans– surrounding his seemingly likely decision to move forward for reelection.
One ABC News/Washington Postpollconducted in late September found that 56% of Democrats and independents that tend to vote for Democrats said they wanted "someone other than Biden" to run in the next presidential election.
A number of Democrats have said they wish Biden would step aside for a "new generation of leadership" echoing what Pelosi noted in her departure from control.
During the campaign cycle, Democrats such as Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio and Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, have openlysuggestedhe shouldn't run for another term.
Biden's health and mental acuity is sure to be subject to intense scrutiny if he were to announce his 2024 bid for the White House, especially from Republicans who have long ridiculed his infamous gaffes during speeches, among other motor skill missteps.
In September, Biden asked about the whereabouts of Indiana GOP congresswoman Jackie Walorski, who was killed in a car crash earlier this year,during a White House conference.
The only candidate in the running so far for the 2024 presidential contest is 76-year-old former President Donald Trump, wholaunchedhis third White House campaign Tuesday evening. Trump was the second-oldest person to assume the presidency, at 70 years old.
