With her memoir hitting shelves in just one week, former First Lady Jill Biden is preparing to take her story on the road — and the political world is paying close attention. The 74-year-old is finally breaking her silence about one of the toughest chapters of her public life: the period when her husband, former President Joe Biden, ended his 2024 presidential bid amid intense pressure from within his own party.
Her memoir, “View from the East Wing: A Memoir,” covers for the first time her account of the three weeks when her husband’s five-decade political career came to an abrupt close. Gallery Books, a Simon & Schuster imprint, publishes the book on June 2, 2026 — alongside an audiobook edition read by Biden herself.
The memoir’s title carries an unintended poignancy: the East Wing where Jill Biden once worked no longer exists. Trump ordered the historic structure demolished in October 2025 to make way for a $400 million ballroom — a project that received final federal approval in April 2026. The wing, originally built in 1902, had long served as the traditional home of the first lady’s office and staff.
In a phone interview with The Associated Press, Jill said writing the memoir was therapeutic after serving as first lady during one of the most volatile stretches in recent American history.
Since leaving the White House in January 2025, the Bidens have mostly kept a low profile — until now. To mark the release, Jill Biden will hit the road for a live book tour, “A Conversation With Jill Biden,” launching June 9 in Philadelphia, with additional stops in Chicago, Ann Arbor, and Boston — including an appearance at the Shubert Theatre on June 17.
The book promises to illuminate the aftermath of Joe Biden’s troubled June 27, 2024, debate against Trump. Many Democrats were alarmed as the then-81-year-old president spoke with a hoarse voice and frequently seemed to lose his train of thought. Although aides attributed the problems to a cold, the harm was done.
Biden at first said he would remain in the race. But as concerns built among Democrats about his ability to serve through age 86, he exited the campaign on July 21, 2024, and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris secured the Democratic nomination but ultimately lost to Trump in November.
The book also recounts the Biden administration’s work during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Jill traveled nationwide to promote vaccinations while supporting military families, education and community colleges, cancer prevention, and women’s health programs.
It also tackles another painful episode 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 prostate cancer with a Gleason score of 9 that had metastasized to his bones.
Jill said the diagnosis was “quite a shock,” telling the AP that doctors expect he will “live out his natural life” despite bone involvement. The former president, now 83, travels to Washington at least weekly for meetings or speeches.
The memoir also covers the 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 unfounded claims of election fraud.
Jill was second lady from 2009 to 2017 while her husband served as vice president under Barack Obama. She currently leads the Milken Institute’s Women’s Health Network and wrote “Where the Light Enters,” published in 2019, which recounts meeting Joe Biden when he was a Delaware senator and building their life together.
The memoir’s release comes amid a busy period for political books. Former Vice President Harris published her memoir, “107 Days,” in September 2025, documenting her shortened presidential run from the day Biden withdrew through Election Day.
Joe Biden himself sold his presidential memoir to Little, Brown & Co., an imprint of Hachette Book Group, for about $10 million in July 2025, though the title and release date remain unannounced.
For Jill, who spent nearly 50 years as a political spouse before becoming first lady, the memoir is her chance to tell her own version of events — a narrative she says gives a “more balanced view” of her husband’s presidency and their remarkable journey together. With the book days away and a national tour set to follow, readers will soon hear that story directly from her.
