Biden Memoir Will Tackle His Disastrous 2024 Campaign

Former President Biden will publish a memoir this fall, publisher Little, Brown and Company told the AP. Promise Me, America, which Biden says will touch upon everything from the economy to his decision to drop his bid for reelection, is scheduled to come out Nov. 17. The timing of the book—two weeks after critical midterm elections—could raise concerns within his party. Many Democrats remain divided on Biden's legacy and his ill-fated decision to seek a second term, and leaders hope to keep the fall campaign focused on the record of President Trump. "Promise Me, America is about the challenges we faced as a nation. It's about the decisions I made and why I made them," Biden said in a video accompanying Wednesday's announcement. "Most of all, it's about my faith in the promise of America."

Reports of Biden's book have circulated for more than a year, and the former president himself has referred to it during public remarks, appearing to suggest it would be released before November's election. Biden, who will turn 84 three days after the publication of Promise Me, America, has long presented himself as an upholder of standards and traditions; presidential memoirs are one of them. With a handful of exceptions, modern presidents since Harry Truman in the 1950s have published books about their White House years. Little, Brown declined to release financial details for Promise Me, America, although presidents have usually reached deals worth at least seven figures. Biden's reportedly sold for significantly less than modern predecessors.

Many readers will likely want to know more about his health while president, including the disastrous debate in June 2024 against Trump that led to Biden giving up his reelection bid. Former first lady Jill Biden wrote in her own book that her husband seemed so weak and disoriented during the debate that she feared he was having a stroke. In View from the East Wing, published in June, she noted that the White House had initially said he was suffering from a cold. "The biggest lesson for us, I think, was that if you don't explain something well enough then the question won't go away," she wrote. "There was never a satisfying enough explanation offered for Joe's debate performance, and a lot of people never got over it."

Promise Me, America comes out during a year when nonfiction sales have declined and few political books have caught on, although recent bestsellers have included Vice President JD Vance's Communion and an inside account of Trump's second term, by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, Regime Change. A Little, Brown spokesperson said that Biden plans to tour on behalf of the book and give interviews. In his video announcement, Biden said that many people had been asking him how he was doing. "I've been spending a lot of time with my family. I'm dealing with a cancer diagnosis, been getting treatment, and it's going really well," he said. "I want to thank all those who have offered their prayers and support and well-wishes. It's meant the world to me and to Jill."