During a recent long flight, I spent my time paging through Vice President Kamala Harris’s newest book, “107 Days.” I picked up this book hoping that it would answer many of my questions about the shortcomings and controversies surrounding the 2024 presidential election.
Though one of the shorter memoirs authored by a political figure, this one covers several main theses at once: The elaborate ins-and-outs of running an extremely shortened presidential campaign, the stress of doing so while continuing to perform vice-presidential duties, and the pressure of all of this during one of the most high-stakes elections in American history.
Each chapter represents one day in the Harris-Walz campaign. Harris explains in detail several events that may have contributed to her loss, including Joe Roegan’s dishonesty about refusing to schedule her on his podcast while happily hosting her opponent, Joe Biden’s team’s unwillingness to work with her and not against her, and her failure to separate herself from the Biden Administration in the eyes of many voters.
She begins the book by recalling the day she received the phone call from President Biden telling her that he was stepping down from the election. She talks about the simple morning of watching the news, completing her workout routine, and making pancakes for her young nieces. This calm start to the day quickly turned into the shortest presidential campaign in American history.
Harris lists several daunting tasks that were to be completed- in a much shorter amount of time than what is typical. She explains the process of choosing her running mate, admitting that she had a preference towards Pete Buttigieg, but unfortunately knew that a gay man running alongside a woman of color would be too controversial for the broader voting base. Tim Walz providing a rural, neighborly football coach demeanor to the campaign was far more palatable for many.
In addition to her vice-presidential selection, Harris details her day-to-day campaign strategy, hosting rallies in swing states while also speaking to a younger audience through podcasts like “Call Her Daddy” and YouTube channels such as “WIRED,” where she answered the web’s “most searched questions.”
The book humanizes a person who spent the majority of 2024 under intense scrutiny, with every word under a microscope, and every comment misconstrued in somebody’s aunt’s Facebook post. A heavily discussed topic in this book was working for the greater good throughout her life while also being a woman of color in a world that isn’t always so equal. While the book wasn’t quite a biography, it provides details on how her upbringing and previous political experiences shaped who she was and how she ran her campaign.
“107 Days” was a shockingly emotional read for me. As someone who was very aware of and passionate about the previous election, I knew going in that many of these anecdotes would not be news to me. However, her memoir showed me that in her unique position, Harris wasn’t always able to explain or defend certain decisions that were made. For better or for worse, this book repeatedly reminded me of what could’ve been, and what should’ve been.