Joe Biden is planning to release a book on his presidency, which ended when he withdrew from the 2024 race after being pushed out by senior Democrats due to concerns over his age and health. At 83, Biden’s autobiography will likely present a self-serving account of his time in office. Meanwhile, several recent books have provided critical insights into his final year, painting a picture of a president increasingly unfit for re-election, with aides in denial or attempting to cover it up.
Journalists Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes in Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House reveal Biden aides planned for his exit in 2023 and resisted calls for his resignation after a disastrous debate with Trump. Chris Whipple’s Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds emphasizes Biden’s inability to grasp the debate’s complexities and his lack of political effort following it.
After Biden’s July withdrawal, Kamala Harris faced a near-impossible task with just 107 days to campaign. Books reveal infighting between Harris’s and Biden’s teams, and strategic errors, like selecting the inexperienced Tim Walz as her running mate, led to a crushing defeat and Trump’s return.
A forthcoming book, Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, will examine Biden’s decline and whether his family and advisers covered it up to avoid a second Trump term. This book, along with others, has ignited debate over the Democratic Party’s failure to confront Biden’s aging leadership.
Ultimately, critics argue that the Democrats’ denial about Biden’s decline contributed to their downfall, and that the party needs to address age-related leadership concerns.