Jill Biden is breaking her silence on one of the most painful chapters of her public life—the moment her husband Joe Biden ended his 2024 presidential campaign under mounting pressure from his own party.
The former first lady announced Wednesday that her upcoming memoir, “View from the East Wing: A Memoir,” will reveal for the first time her experiences during the three-week stretch when her husband’s five-decade political career came to an abrupt end. Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, will publish the book on June 2, 2026.
In a brief telephone interview with The Associated Press, Jill Biden, 74, described writing the memoir as a healing process after serving as first lady during one of the most tumultuous periods in modern American history.
“It was kind of cathartic for me to write it, and I wrote about all the, you know, sometimes painful—but other times, most of it really beautiful moments that Joe and I shared during his presidency,” she told the AP.
The memoir arrives at a moment when interest in the Biden presidency remains high. Since leaving the White House in January following President Donald Trump’s victory over Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in November 2024, the Bidens have largely stayed out of the spotlight—until now.
The book promises to shed light on the critical period following June 27, 2024, when Joe Biden delivered a disastrous debate performance against Trump. Democrats watched in alarm as the then-81-year-old president struggled with a raspy voice and appeared to lose his train of thought repeatedly. While aides blamed the performance on a cold, the damage was done.
Biden initially insisted he would stay in the race. But as pressure mounted from fellow Democrats concerned about his age and fitness to serve until age 86, he withdrew from the campaign on July 21, 2024, and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris went on to secure the Democratic nomination but ultimately lost to Trump in November.
According to the publisher’s press release, the memoir will address “for the first time” her experiences “before, during, and after the unexpected ending to her husband’s bid for re-election.”
Jill Biden made history during her time in the White House as the first first lady to maintain a full-time career, teaching English and writing twice a week at Northern Virginia Community College while balancing her duties as first lady. She retired from NOVA in December 2024 after 15 years at the institution.
The memoir will also chronicle the Biden administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, during which Jill Biden traveled around the country encouraging vaccinations while advocating for military families, education, community colleges, cancer prevention, and women’s health initiatives.
The book addresses another difficult chapter for the Bidens—Joe Biden’s cancer diagnosis. The former president’s office announced in May 2025 that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer with a Gleason score of 9 that had spread to his bones.
Jill Biden acknowledged the diagnosis came as “quite a shock,” telling the AP that doctors say he will “live out his natural life” despite the cancer being in his bones. The former president, now 83, visits Washington at least once a week for meetings or speeches.
The memoir will also detail the Biden administration’s early days, including Joe Biden’s inauguration on the Capitol steps just two weeks after the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the building following his false claims about election fraud.
Jill Biden served as second lady from 2009 to 2017 during her husband’s tenure as Vice President under Barack Obama. She currently chairs the Milken Institute’s Women’s Health Network and previously authored “Where the Light Enters,” published in 2019, which detailed meeting Joe Biden when he was a Delaware senator and building a life with him.
The memoir’s release comes during a busy season for political books. Former Vice President Harris released her own memoir, “107 Days,” in September 2025, chronicling her abbreviated presidential campaign from the day Biden dropped out through Election Day.
Joe Biden himself sold his presidential memoir to Little, Brown & Co., an imprint of Hachette Book Group, for approximately $10 million in July 2025, though the title and release date have not been announced.
For Jill Biden, who spent nearly 50 years as a political spouse before becoming first lady, the memoir represents an opportunity to tell her story in her own words—a story she says offers a “more balanced view” of her husband’s presidency and their extraordinary journey together.
Sources:
https://abcnews.com/Politics/wireStory/jill-biden-opens-memoir-joe-bidens-decision-end-130965436
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/jill-bidens-new-memoir-will-offer-her-perspective-on-the-decision-to-end-bidens-2024-reelection-bid
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/4488023/jill-biden-opens-up-joe-decision-drop-out-2024-election-new-memoir/
