Jill Biden Memoir Promises to 'Set the Record Straight' on Joe Biden's 2024 Collapse

Former first lady's new book aims to offer 'more balanced view' of president's exit from race

Mar. 13, 2026 at 4:03am

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Jill Biden is preparing to relitigate the most humiliating chapter of the Biden presidency. A new memoir, titled "View from the East Wing: A Memoir," will be published June 2, and the former first lady says its purpose is to "set the record straight" about her husband's exit from the 2024 presidential race and the four years that preceded it.

Why it matters

The question is whether the record needs straightening or burying. The American people watched in real time as Biden struggled on the debate stage, his party panicked, and the backroom knife work that followed. Jill Biden now wants to offer a "more balanced view," but the concerns about Biden's fitness were evident long before that debate.

The details

In an Instagram video promoting the book, Jill Biden framed it as her definitive account, saying "Parts of this story have been told, but not all of it." The former first lady told the AP the memoir was "kind of cathartic" to write, describing it as a "reflection of my four years as first lady." She also aimed to rebut books that detailed Joe Biden's health issues, insisting their authors lacked firsthand knowledge.

  • Joe Biden exited the 2024 race in July after weeks of pressure from members of his own party following a debate performance against Donald Trump.
  • Biden endorsed Kamala Harris the same day he stepped aside.
  • Harris ran a historically short 107-day campaign and went on to lose to President Donald Trump in November.

The players

Jill Biden

The former first lady who is preparing to publish a memoir titled "View from the East Wing: A Memoir" that aims to "set the record straight" about her husband's exit from the 2024 presidential race.

Joe Biden

The former president who exited the 2024 race in July after a debate performance that even his staunchest allies couldn't spin.

Kamala Harris

The woman Biden hand-picked as his successor, who is now reportedly detailing in her own memoir, "107 Days," her feeling that leaving the decision to exit the race in Biden's hands "was reckless."

Donald Trump

The president who defeated Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.

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What they’re saying

“Parts of this story have been told, but not all of it.”

— Jill Biden (Instagram)

“The people who wrote those books were not in the White House with us. And they didn't see how hard Joe worked every single day. I mean, he'd get up. He'd put in a full day, and then at night he would — I'd be in bed, you know, reading my book, and he was still on the phone, reading his briefings. Working with staff. I mean, it was nonstop.”

— Jill Biden, Former First Lady (Associated Press)

“They are wrong. There's nothing to sustain that, number one.”

— Joe Biden, Former President (The View)

What’s next

Jill Biden's memoir "View from the East Wing: A Memoir" is scheduled to be published on June 2, 2026.

The takeaway

Jill Biden's memoir and Kamala Harris' book "107 Days" represent competing narratives from within the same administration, as the Biden team struggles to control the story of the president's 2024 collapse. However, the American people witnessed the events unfold in real time, and no memoir can change that record.