The memoir drops at a time when Democrats would prefer voters focused on Trump, the economy and the future rather than reopen bitter divisions over 2024.
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Former president Joe Biden announced Wednesday that his memoir will be published Nov. 17, two weeks after the midterm elections, setting up a potentially awkward reckoning for a Democratic Party that would prefer to keep voters focused on President Donald Trump, the economy and the future rather than reopen bitter divisions over 2024.
The book, “Promise Me, America,” echoes the title of Biden’s 2017 memoir, “Promise Me, Dad,” which centered on the death of his elder son. Its release is likely to generate a wave of interviews, public appearances and stories drawn from advance excerpts or leaked passages, as publishers and authors typically seek to build interest around presidential memoirs.
A spokesperson for Biden’s postpresidential office did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Biden said the book will examine challenges ranging from the economy to the political turmoil surrounding his unsuccessful effort to seek a second term.
“It’s about why I chose to run for reelection — and why I chose to step aside,” he said.
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The memoir will give Biden another opportunity to shape the historical assessment of a presidency that began amid the coronavirus pandemic and the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, but ended under intense scrutiny of his age, health and decision to pursue reelection.
Biden was diagnosed in May 2025 with an aggressive, hormone-sensitive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones. In Wednesday’s announcement video, he said he’s “been getting treatment, and it’s been going really well.”
Prominent Democrats close to Biden have already offered sharply different accounts of the tumultuous end to the 2024 election. In her memoir, former first lady Jill Biden portrays her husband’s withdrawal from the race as a painful decision made under mounting pressure from fellow Democrats. Afterward, she recalled, he told her: “Jilly, I had no choice.”
Former vice president Kamala Harris was more critical in her book, “107 Days,” arguing that Biden’s decision to seek reelection should never have been treated as a purely personal choice. She described the party’s deference to Biden and his family as “recklessness,” writing that the stakes were too high to leave the decision to one person.
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