In a summer defined by stunning headline after stunning headline, no event rocked the political landscape more than President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential​​ election and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for the position.

Biden’s July 21st announcement signified the conclusion to one series of events: A substantial push by members of the Democratic Party to get Biden to step aside for a younger candidate. Likewise, it was the beginning of Harris’ campaign for the presidency. The choice has in many ways defined this election season, both in how it came to be and the ramifications it has had on the Electoral Map.

The foundations of this last-minute candidate switch were laid as far back as Biden’s successful 2020 campaign, in which he emphasized that he intended to serve as a “bridge” to a younger generation of leaders, leading to speculation that he’d choose not to run for re-election. “[Biden dropping out] was a serious possibility in my eyes… I thought that he would declare that he wasn’t running for president,” history teacher Filipp Velgach said. As 2024 rolled around and the election began to loom, the President’s intentions to stay in the race became clear. This signified that a different candidate receiving the Democratic nomination for president was unlikely.

That all changed with the first, and what would eventually become Biden’s only, presidential debate between Biden and his Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump. The debate, held on June 27th, was the earliest faceoff in Presidential election history and laid bare Biden’s age and struggling mental and physical ability, particularly at its beginning. “I think after [the debate], it gave more of a reason for him to step down; I think that was more of a catalyst to the thought of him dropping out,” Ackim Mpofu said, LFA AP politics teacher. Calls for Biden to allow a younger candidate to take his place ramped up almost immediately, and pressure began to mount on the President.

The push to get him to step aside wasn’t confined to just the fringes of the Democratic Party, either. Mainstream, big-name members, including Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, Illinois Representative Brad Schneider, and most importantly, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who is alleged to have been one of the leading forces in getting Biden to drop out, pressured the President. Velgach stated, “[In my lifetime], there hasn’t been an incumbent that has been… pushed and pressured by his own political party. It’s just not usually advantageous.” Yet, despite this mounting pressure, Biden maintained his position in the race. Eventually, though, the dam burst.

On July 17th, CNN reported that President Biden tested positive for COVID-19. Beyond mirroring concerns over his health, this forced Biden to self-isolate and reconsider if running for re-election was best for him, his party, and the country. This all culminated in a post from his account on X (formerly known as Twitter), in which he stated, “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.” This was echoed in a July 24th speech, which emphasized the need to “pass the torch to a new generation” while highlighting the accomplishments of the Biden Administration.

At the end of this, though, the Democratic Party was still left with the question of who they were going to select as Biden’s replacement and how they were going to do it. After all, he received 87 percent of the vote in the primaries, and the Democratic National Convention–at which an official nominee for President would be nominated–was less than a month away. There was no time to hold another national primary. Minutes after President Biden announced that he would drop out, he made another statement on X. He officially endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for President.

Harris was the successor to Biden in many ways, and was seen as a good choice for the Democratic Party. She was “on the ballot” in the Democratic primaries that nominated Biden, would likely be able to access existing campaign funds more easily, and was better suited to avoid problems with getting on the ballot in all 50 states. As Velgach put it, “If she’s already the presumptive nominee, it makes the most sense to back that person.” Less than two days after she received the President’s endorsement, a majority of Democratic delegates had pledged their support to Kamala Harris for the party’s nomination.

Harris’ ascent to the role of Democratic nominee for President is particularly notable in the context of American history. “We rarely have female candidates running for president in the United States… so that makes it historic,” said Mpofu. “She is a woman of color… and that makes it even more monumental for the US as a country.” The shattering of the glass ceiling is a theme that has reminded some Democrats of Hillary Clinton’s failed 2016 presidential bid, though Harris will be keen to avoid the mistakes Clinton made in campaign strategy and rhetoric that cost her the election.

What has followed has been exactly what Democrats were hoping for after making a gamble of Presidential proportions. According to poll aggregator 538, Trump led Biden by 3.2 percent nationally on July 21st. One month later, Harris flipped that number to 3.3 percent in her favor, as her campaign has enjoyed plenty of momentum and support following her entrance into the race. In a similar manner, she’s turned the tone of the campaign on its head, too, being able to use the same attacks on Biden’s old age against former President Trump.

The change from the 81-year-old Biden to the 59-year-old Harris also signifies something just as significant as the change in circumstances of this Presidential Election: a generational shift in American politics. While Barack Obama’s election in 2008 showed the beginnings of this, the nomination of Vice President Harris seems to be the turning point in the movement towards a younger generation of politicians. Mpofu stated, “You are definitely going to see a change in the political culture of the United States. You need a president who’s going to relate to the biggest [part of the] population of America… people want to have a president that understands what it means to be Gen Z.”

This election season is far from over, and so much remains up in the air when it comes to who will lead the country for the next four years. One thing remains for certain: President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the presidential election was a momentous one. Vice President Kamala Harris’ subsequent rise to the occasion has given new life into the Democratic Party’s hopes of finding their candidate in the Oval Office come January 2025.