Former President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he will release a new memoir after this year’s midterm elections, saying the book will provide what he described as the “complete story” of his presidency and explain the decisions that shaped his time in office, including his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race.
The memoir, titled Promise Me, America, is scheduled for release on Nov. 17, just three days before Biden’s 84th birthday and two weeks after voters cast their ballots in the midterm elections. Democrats are hoping to regain control of Congress in those elections, a political backdrop that could once again place Biden’s presidency in the national spotlight even as party leaders seek to keep attention focused on President Donald Trump.
The announcement follows more than a year of speculation over when Biden’s memoir would be published. The former president had previously indicated that he expected the book to be released before this year’s elections, but Wednesday’s announcement confirmed it will instead arrive after voters head to the polls.
Biden unveiled the project through a video trailer released Wednesday, offering a preview of what readers can expect from the memoir. According to the former president, the book will examine both the challenges facing the country during his administration and the reasoning behind many of the decisions he made while serving in the White House.
“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 the video.
He added that the memoir is ultimately centered on his belief in the country’s future.
“Most of all, it’s about my faith in the promise of America,” Biden said.
The title recalls Biden’s 2017 memoir, Promise Me, Dad, which focused on the death of his son, Beau Biden.
According to the announcement, the new book will revisit a broad range of issues from Biden’s presidency. Among the subjects expected to be covered are the economy, major legislative accomplishments, foreign policy, and his decision to end his campaign for a second term.
That decision came after Biden’s June 2024 debate performance against then-candidate Donald Trump, which drew widespread criticism and ultimately led the president to abandon his reelection bid.
Following Biden’s withdrawal from the race, then-Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.
Harris went on to lose the general election to President Donald Trump.
Biden’s decision to leave the race marked one of the defining moments of the 2024 election cycle and has remained the subject of continued political discussion.
In the months since the election, multiple books have already been published examining the campaign, Biden’s presidency, and questions surrounding his fitness to seek another term in office.
His fitness became a central political issue during the final months of his presidency, particularly after the June 2024 debate performance that preceded his decision to withdraw from the race.
With Promise Me, America, Biden says he intends to offer his own account of those events, revisiting the major decisions of his presidency and explaining the reasoning behind them as he reflects on his time in office.
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