CBS News
Biden live updates as decision to drop out upends 2024 presidential race
President Biden has decided to drop out of the presidential race, he announced Sunday, upending the campaign and hurtling Democrats toward a complicated and potentially divisive process to replace him.
The move comes after Mr. Biden’s disastrous performance in the first presidential debate at the end of June, which left many members of his own party questioning whether he was capable of defeating former President Donald Trump in November and serving a second four-year term. Pressure soon grew for him to step aside, with an increasing number of party leaders and Democratic lawmakers openly musing about replacing him on the ticket.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president,” Mr. Biden wrote in a letter to the American people posted to social media. “And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, 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.”
The decision to step aside has few parallels in American history. The most immediate precedent can be found in 1968, when President Lyndon Johnson declined to run for the Democratic nomination, kicking off a tumultuous process to find a replacement that ended in Vice President Hubert Humphrey becoming the nominee at the party’s convention in Chicago.
This August, Democrats will once again meet in Chicago to decide the path forward.
Follow live updates on the fallout from Mr. Biden’s decision to step aside, and what happens next:
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Phil Lesh, bassist and founding member of The Grateful Dead, died Friday, a producer who worked with him confirmed to CBS News. He was 84 years old.
A post on his Instagram account said Lesh “passed peacefully this morning.”
/ Getty Images
“He was surrounded by his family and full of love. Phil brought immense joy to everyone around him and leaves behind a legacy of music and love. We request that you respect the Lesh family’s privacy at this time,” the post said.
One of America’s most enduring musical groups, The Grateful Dead was formed as a quintet in California in 1965, according to their official website. Jerry Garcia, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, Bob Weir Bill Kreutzmann and Phil Lesh made up the original band members. The band signed to Warner Brothers in late 1966, releasing their self-titled debut later that spring.
The band went on to tour for the next half-decade — an era, the band said was their most creatively fertile. Somea members left, some died, and others were added, but the original magic of Phil Lesh and Jerry Garcia stayed intact through some of their most tumultuous years. Garcia died in 1995.
Getty Images
The Grateful Dead toured extensively garnering legions of fans around the world for their ability to play music and “jam.”
In 2007, the band received the Lifetime Achievement award from the Recording Academy.
The band broke the record for the most Top 40 albums to chart on the Billboard 200 in 2024. Even though the band disbanded in 1995 following the death of singer Jerry Garcia, its archival albums’ popularity pushed the music into the Top 40. Forty-one of the band’s 59 entries in the Top 40 have happened since 2012.
Native of St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood used NASA tech to revive shuttered company
World awaits potential Israel, Hamas cease-fire news as leaders head to Qatar
Minneapolis man sentenced to 20 years in prison for 2023 murder of neighbor
Native of St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood used NASA tech to revive shuttered company