The memoir, 107 Days by the 49th Vice President Kamala Harris, follows the politician’s presidential campaign for the November 2024 election after Joe Biden dropped out of the running. The title is a direct reference to the length of her campaign and the details of her chaotic and unexpected placement in the running for President of the United States.
Harris’s powerful title is meant to show the brutally brief time she had to convince Americans to vote for her as the first female president of the United States (The Guardian). In the text, Harris recounts important events that occurred within this margin in time, one of them being tensions with Biden. For example, Harris explains how just before her presidential debate with Trump, Biden called her privately, asking her to “rewrite the history” of his own presidential debate. He also explained how the “high stakes” powers in Philadelphia were upset with her, and took away her stance in this important moment by making it all about himself (The Guardian). These details only added more stress to Harris’s short time to campaign.
Harris also shares her opinions regarding Biden choosing to run for reelection in the first place. His “reckless” behavior reflected his inability to campaign, and after his debate against Donald Trump, she knew something wasn’t right (The Guardian). However, Harris never directly states that Biden shouldn’t have run for a second term in her memoir. She simply recognizes that his mentality was not where a president’s should be, and his mismanagement of staff and overall denial made it a difficult election to win (npr.org). Harris does not exclude herself when she regards Biden’s mismanagement of staff. In an interview with MSNBC, she stated, “I have and had a certain responsibility that I should have followed through on. … When I talk about recklessness, as much as anything, I’m talking about myself” (npr.org). Throughout her run as Vice President, this caused Harris to struggle to move away from Biden’s reputation during his own term.
Harris was known to be a closed-off, more introverted politician who tended to steer clear of being vulnerable and sharing personal information. However, in her memoir, Harris opens up more than ever when she reveals her personal political struggles. For example, her running for president took a severe toll on her marriage with Doug Emhoff due to the stress and backlash she received from the public (npr.org). Harris has sold over 350,000 copies on all platforms within the first week of its release of September 30th, 2025 (Politico). Her story is now being shared, celebrated, and recognized throughout the public, highlighting the moments that others may have missed.
Here at Ramapo, students have heard of Harris’s memoir and would like to share their opinions. Senior Emma Sanchez stated, “I’ve heard about the book from social media, and I am interested in learning more about her experience in the presidential election.” Another Senior, Lana Jepsen, stated, “ I have not read the book, but I have heard about its impact in recent news. I would love to learn more about her campaigning process from the book and the stress candidates in general go through.”
The readers of 107 Days are certainly in for an exclusive look at the campaigning process of Kamala Harris, and will be able to appreciate the exhausting, stressful, and comparable position she was put in.
