On September 3rd, former Vice President Kamala Harris released her memoir: 107 Days. The book is a recounting of her campaign for the 2024 Presidential election. I enjoyed reading this memoir, which says something about its quality, because usually autobiographical narratives struggle to hold my attention as a largely fiction reader. However, I do also have some gripes with the book and its explanation for the results of the election.
The book opens with Harris reminiscing about when she found out President Joe Biden was dropping out of the race. Prior to this moment, there had been questioning of the president’s health, and whether he was capable to once again be the leader of the country. At first, Biden was reluctant to give up on the race, but was eventually convinced by the resounding criticism from even his own Democrat Party after his debate with President Donald Trump.
Harris recounts the shock of the revelation and how instantaneous the process was to prepare her as a candidate. I liked how vivid the imagery was; I could really feel the rush of the moment. Harris describes her day with her nieces having to be cut short, and her staff instantly arriving at her house to begin preparations. She describes an awestruck silence as the president relays the information to her, and then an instantaneous response of clambering for phones to dial staff and family, and running up and down the stairs. The reader can not only feel the emotion of the moment, but they can also see and hear it.
This is something that holds up throughout the book, and I think it’s the novel’s biggest strength. As Harris describes the expected chaos of a 107 day campaign, the reader feels almost suffocated. She recounts her long, draining schedule with no detail left out. It makes the reader’s eyes cross over, yes, but that’s the point. You can feel the stress, the lack of room to breathe, and the constant pressure of being a political figure in the United States. No move is unwatched, no breath is unheard. Everything is under constant surveillance, and I think Harris did a good job of capturing that. She describes desiring to go on a walk with her husband, but only being permitted to do so on an airstrip on a military base, with chaperones watching the couple from a distance.
However, my criticism comes in when Harris begins her commentary on her loss. She chalks it up to not having enough time. While this is part of the reason for her unsuccessful campaign, the main reason appears to lie with her unwavering loyalty to Joe Biden. While many voters seemed to crave change in the country, some believed that Harris as president meant another four years of Joe Biden.
While this isn’t an entirely truthful prediction, Harris struggled to convey this fact, even saying there wasn’t anything she’d do differently had she been in office instead of Biden. This, ultimately, was the issue. But in the book, Harris insists that she just needed more time to write a larger narrative that could convince undecided and even Pro-Trump voters to swing her way.
Overall, the book was an entertaining and real account of a chaotic campaign, the shortest in American history, might I add. I could feel the highs, and I could feel the lows.