Former President Joe Biden said he is scaling back the promotional tour for his upcoming memoir, 'Promise me, America,' acknowledging that his ongoing cancer treatment has begun to limit what he can do.
'Some days are better than others,' Biden, 83, wrote in a lengthy post on X on Sunday. 'It hasn't stopped me. But sometimes it slows me down.' He said he would no longer 'be able to do as many conversations about my book as I'd hoped,' but added that he is 'hopeful the words on the page speak for themselves.'
Months after leaving office in January 2025, Biden announced he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. He has since undergone courses of radiation therapy and hormone treatment, and his office shared last year that he had surgery to remove cancerous skin cells.
The memoir, due out Nov. 17, covers his four years in the White House, including 'the decisions I made, and why I made them,' he wrote. 'More than anything, it's about my faith in the American people and the great American experiment in self-governance and democracy.'
In an August interview with the BBC, Biden's son Hunter Biden said the illness had spread well beyond its origin. 'The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further,' Hunter Biden said. 'It's very painful and it's very debilitating in many respects.' He added: 'It's really sad to watch.' Former first lady Jill Biden has previously told NBC News: 'I think Joe will live with cancer till the rest of his life.'
Biden was the oldest man to serve as U.S. president, and questions about his age and health followed him through much of his time in office. According to publisher Hachette Book Group, the memoir of the 46th president examines 'his campaign, his presidency, his decision to run again,' and 'reveals the deeply agonizing calculation behind his decision in the summer of 2024 to step aside from the presidential race and to put his party and the nation before his personal ambitions.'
Biden suspended that re-election bid amid mounting pressure from within his party and ultimately endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris. Throughout that period and since, he has frequently pushed back against claims about his mental acuity and memory.
Even as he described the toll of his illness, Biden struck a defiant note in his post on Sunday. He said his doctors were 'encouraged by how I've responded to treatment,' thanked the public for its prayers and well wishes, and vowed to keep fighting.
