In her forthcoming memoir, the former Vice President contends that the Biden White House exhibited “recklessness” by entrusting the decision of whether President Joe Biden, at 81, should pursue re-election solely to him and his wife.
In an excerpt from the book released Wednesday by The Atlantic, Harris recalls the pervasive sentiment, “‘It’s Joe and Jill’s decision.’ We all said that, like a mantra, as if we’d all been hypnotized.” She then muses whether this approach demonstrated grace or recklessness, ultimately concluding it was the latter, given the significant stakes. She argues such a critical choice should have transcended individual ego or ambition, becoming more than merely a personal matter.
Titled 107 Days, the book presents Harris’s most forthright depiction to date of her tense association with Biden’s staff and the chaotic campaign that ensued following his belated withdrawal last summer, a turn of events that culminated in President Donald Trump’s electoral victory.
Harris recounts her internal struggle over advising Biden against seeking another term, eventually deciding she was in “the worst position” to do so. She believed such counsel would be perceived as “naked ambition,” or potentially “poisonous disloyalty,” even if her sole intention was to prevent the rival candidate from winning, she explains in the book, scheduled for release on September 23 by Simon & Schuster.
Despite her doubts about the prudence of Biden’s re-election pursuit, Harris meticulously defends his achievements and intellectual capacity. She characterizes him as a highly intelligent individual with extensive experience and strong convictions, fully capable of performing presidential duties. Even at his lowest, she claims, he possessed greater knowledge, judgment, and compassion than Donald Trump at his peak. However, she notes that at 81, Biden’s fatigue became apparent through physical and verbal missteps.
The former Vice President firmly states she never questioned Biden’s competence, even amidst widespread Democratic concerns about his age. She asserts she would have spoken up if she had believed there was an incapacity, emphasizing her greater loyalty to the nation over her loyalty to President Biden.
Nevertheless, Harris directs some of her most pointed criticism toward Biden’s staff, alleging they consistently undermined her. The White House communications team, she states, “rarely” came to her defense against Republican attacks and frequently regarded her public presence as a disadvantage.
She asserts that the staff’s mindset was a “zero-sum” game, believing that her prominence would diminish his. Harris further explains that they failed to grasp the crucial point that her success contributed to his, and that her visible achievements as his Vice President were vital, particularly in light of concerns about his age.
Harris recounts multiple occasions where she felt unsupported by aides—such as during the campaign when Republicans derided her as Biden’s “border czar” after he assigned her to investigate the root causes of U.S. migration, and amidst reports of frequent staff changes in her office. She also notes that the president’s advisors resented the visibility she gained from a widely praised 2024 speech in Alabama advocating for a ceasefire in Israel’s war in Gaza, concluding that her achievements were beneficial for him, but his team failed to comprehend this.
Harris’s brief presidential campaign culminated in a loss to Trump, who subsequently reclaimed the White House with 312 electoral votes, significantly surpassing her 226. The release of her memoir coincides with both Biden and Harris maintaining a subdued public presence since departing office in January. Harris briefly considered a run for California governor but decided against it in July, keeping alive the prospect of another presidential campaign in 2028.
