Joe Biden is now one third as old as the United States

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Joe Biden is now one third as old as the United States

The former US president, 83, has lived through nearly every major geopolitical era of the modern United States

The internet is just now realising that Joe Biden is officially one third as old as the United States.

Is the former American president, 83, really old or is the US simply really young? The concept is enough to frazzle anyone's brain.

To explain, Democrat Biden, who was the 46th US president between 2021 and 2025, was born in 1942, and the US was founded 250 years ago in 1776.

So, if we do some quick maths - 83 (Biden's age) divided by 250 (the number of years America has existed), that equals 0.33.

Biden represented Delaware in the Senate from 1973 to 2009. Before becoming president, he also served as the 47th vice president under Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017.

If you're not baffled enough already, Biden is also the only US president whose lifespan overlaps with nearly every major geopolitical era of the modern United States - we're talking from World War II all the way through to the AI age.

Joe Biden is officially one third as old as America - yep, you read that right (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Joe Biden is officially one third as old as America - yep, you read that right (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

People have been left absolutely flabbergasted by this bizarre fact and social media users are struggling to wrap their heads around it - as am I, to be honest.

Last week, someone simply declared on Reddit: "As of today, Joe Biden is 1/3 as old as the United States."

To which a second user penned: "Crazy how short a time the U.S. has been around. Crazy how much infrastructure we've built over such a big country in so short a time."

And a third chimed in with: "Anyone who has reached retirement age is 1/4 as old as the United States. Star Wars is 1/5 as old as the United States."

"Fun fact: he served in federal office for TWENTY percent of US history," added someone else.

While another Redditor pointed out: "His birth (November 20, 1942) is closer in time to Lincoln’s second presidential inauguration (March 4, 1865) than to his own (January 20, 2021)."

Others brutally wrote: "We should stop electing elderly men as presidents..." and "Isn't 1/4 of congress just as old, if not older??"

The bizarre fact has left people scratching their heads (AARON SCHWARTZ/Getty Images)
The bizarre fact has left people scratching their heads (AARON SCHWARTZ/Getty Images)

Biden's lifetime spans such a huge stretch of American history, as he was born during World War II and grew up in the early Cold War.

The Democrat also lived through the civil rights movement, the moon landing, the fall of the Soviet Union, the rise of the internet, and now the rise of AI.

Back in 2019, Biden actually addressed his age head-on after some Americans expressed concern over it affecting his role.

He said: "What the hell concerns? You wanna wrestle?"

In 2024, Biden dropped out of the presidential race against Donald Trump following a disastrous debate and wrote in a social media statement at the time: “It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your President.

"While it has been my intention to seek re-election, 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."

Featured Image Credit: Sophie Park / Stringer / via Getty Images

Topics: Joe Biden, Politics, Reddit, US News, News, Social Media