Former President Joe Biden announced the release of his presidential memoirs titled "Promise Me, America," scheduled for November 17, as confirmed by the publisher Little, Brown and Company to the Associated Press.
The book will go on sale just two weeks after the midterm elections, in which the Democrats are aiming to regain control of Congress.
The announcement came via a video in which Biden described the scope of the work: “'Promise Me, America' is about the challenges we face as a nation. It’s about the decisions I made and why I made them. Above all, it’s about my faith in the promise of the United States.”
The former president also revealed that the book will address "why I chose to run for re-election and why I chose to step aside."
Among the topics to be covered are the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy, the wars in Afghanistan, Ukraine, and the Middle East, the restoration of democracy following the Capitol assault on January 6, 2021, and the most anticipated point for readers: an explanation of his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race.
The publication calendar has raised concerns within the Democratic Party. Many of its leaders remain divided on Biden's legacy and fear that any leaks or early promotion of the book could reignite internal disputes just before the elections in November, when they prefer to keep the focus on the record of Republican president Donald Trump.
Biden has been the oldest president, and his health was a topic of speculation for much of his term. He managed to navigate doubts and fears until the disastrous debate on June 27, 2024, against Trump, during the reelection campaign, when he displayed such mental decline that it triggered significant pressure within the Democratic Party, forcing him to withdraw from the race.
The former First Lady Jill Biden addressed the episode in her book "View from the East Wing," published in June. "The biggest lesson for us was that if you don’t explain something well enough, the question won’t go away. There was never a satisfactory explanation about Joe's performance in the debate, and many people never got over it," she wrote.
In the same promotional video, Biden referred to his health condition. Diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer in May 2025 and after completing a round of radiation therapy in October of that year, the former president stated that “the treatment is really going very well” and expressed gratitude “to everyone who has offered their prayers, support, and well wishes.”
The title of the book is part of a series of earlier works: "Promise Me, Dad" (2017), focused on the death of his son Beau Biden from brain cancer, and "Promises to Keep" (2008), published during his first presidential campaign. Biden did not work alone on the new volume, but with a small team, as confirmed by the publisher.
Little, Brown and Company declined to disclose the financial details of the agreement, although according to the Wall Street Journal, Biden is said to have received an advance of around 10 million dollars, a figure lower than that received at the time by Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
The retail price was set at 42 dollars.
Biden will turn 84 years old on November 20, three days after the book's release. A spokesperson for the publisher confirmed that he plans to go on a promotional tour and give interviews.
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