joe biden

The Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller.

From President-Elect Joe Biden, winner of the 2020 United States presidential election, Promise Me Dad is his deeply moving memoir about the year that would forever change both a family and a country.

‘Biden splices a heartbreaking story with an election story and a foreign affairs story. And in so doing, he offers something for everyone, no matter which strand draws you in’ – The New York Times Book Review

In November 2014, thirteen members of the Biden family gathered for their traditional Thanksgiving celebration. But this year felt different from previous. Joe and Jill Biden’s eldest son, Beau, had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour fifteen months earlier, and his survival was uncertain. ‘Promise me, Dad,’ Beau had told his father. ‘Give me your word that no matter what happens, you’re going to be all right.’ Joe Biden gave him his word.

Promise Me, Dad chronicles the year that followed, which would be the most momentous and challenging in Joe Biden’s extraordinary life and career. Vice President Biden travelled more than a hundred thousand miles that year, across the world, dealing with crises in Ukraine, Central America and Iraq. While Beau fought for, and then lost his life, the Vice President balanced the twin imperatives of living up to his responsibilities to his country and his responsibilities to his family, while contemplating the insistent and urgent question of whether he should seek the presidency in 2016. Even in the worst times, Biden was able to lean on the strength of his long, deep bonds with his family, on his faith, and on his deepening friendship with the man in the Oval Office, Barack Obama.

Promise Me, Dad is a story of how family and friendships sustain us and how hope, purpose and action can guide us through the pain of personal loss into the light of a new future.

Review

The book is a backstage drama, honest, raw and rich in detail. People who have lost someone will genuinely take comfort from what he has to say…These flashes of vulnerability are part of what makes Promise Me, Dad memorable; so, too, are the small, tender interactions between Biden and his dying son. ― The New York Times

Biden splices a heartbreaking story with an election story and a foreign affairs story. And in so doing, he offers something for everyone, no matter which strand draws you in. ― The New York Times Book Review

Promise Me, Dad is Joe Biden’s poignant, instructive and deeply affecting account of a family’s struggle against a vicious brain cancer, played out against the demands of his job as vice president and the temptations of another run for the presidency. It is also a touching account of the cruel realities of cancer, especially cancer that strikes a child. ― Irish Independent

Promise Me, Dad is Joe Biden’s poignant account of the most challenging year of his vice-presidency and the second-most difficult year of his life. More than anything else, the book is a reminder of the importance of politics: how much elections can change the trajectory of a country, and how different America has become one year after Donald Trump was elected president. ― The Guardian

From the Back Cover

A deeply moving memoir about the year that would forever change both a family and a country

‘Promise Me, Dad is Joe Biden’s poignant account of the most challenging year of his vice-presidency and the second most difficult year of his life. More than anything else, the book is a reminder of the importance of politics: how much elections can change the trajectory of a country, and how different America has become one year after Donald Trump was elected president.’ Guardian

‘Poignant, instructive and deeply affecting.’ Irish Independent

‘A backstage drama, honest, raw and rich in detail. People who have lost someone will genuinely take comfort from what he has to say . . . These flashes of vulnerability are part of what makes Promise Me, Dad memorable; so, too, are the small, tender interactions between Biden and his dying son.’ New York Times

‘Biden splices a heartbreaking story with an election story and a foreign affairs story. And in so doing, he offers something for everyone, no matter which strand draws you in.’ New York Times Book Review

About the Author

President-elect Joe Biden won the most votes of any US presidential candidate in history when he won the 2020 election with his running mate Kamala Harris. He represented Delaware for thirty-six years in the US Senate before serving as 47th Vice President of the United States from 2009 to 2017. As the Vice President, Joe Biden addressed important issues facing the nation and represented America abroad, traveling over 1.2 million miles to more than fifty countries. He convened sessions of the President’s Cabinet, led interagency efforts, and worked with Congress in his fight to raise the living standards of middle-class Americans, reduce gun violence, address violence against women and end cancer as we know it.

Biden continues his legacy of expanding opportunity for all with the creation of the Biden Foundation, the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania and the Biden Domestic Policy Institute at the University of Delaware. He is the author of Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics and the memoir Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose.