Joe Biden has been around a long time. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972, at age 29 (he reached the constitution’s required age of 30 before taking office in January 1973). No one in the current Senate was there at that time. The current senior-most House member only arrived on Capitol Hill after a special election two months later. Few other Americans have had such long-lasting prominent political careers: John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay in the 19th century, arguably; Claude Pepper and Strom Thurmond in the 20th.

Biden’s poll numbers shot up after his announcement, by video and in person in Pittsburgh. The three most recent polls show him averaging 38%, way ahead of Bernie Sanders (16%), Elizabeth Warren (10%), Pete Buttigieg (8%), and Kamala Harris (7%). Biden seems to run strongest among those over 45 (who turn out more regularly than those younger) and in the Midwest (where Hillary Clinton lost 50 critical electoral votes that the Obama-Biden ticket won twice).