Joe Biden Says Cancer Has Slowed Him Down as His Presidential Memoir Nears Release

He Plans Fewer Conversations About the Book, Though His Doctors Remain Encouraged

Joe Biden had hoped to spend more time talking with readers about Promise Me, America, his memoir about his four years in the White House. In a Sunday post on X, the former president said prostate cancer would limit how many of those conversations he could take part in. The book is due November 17.

“Some days are better than others,” Biden wrote. He said his doctors remain encouraged by his response to treatment, while acknowledging that his illness affects what he can do from one day to the next. He also thanked the people who had offered prayers and kind words to him, his wife Jill, and their family.

His update gave readers a sense of what the illness means for a specific commitment he had been looking forward to. The memoir will still be released as scheduled. Biden expects to spend less time discussing it publicly than he had planned.

Promise Me, America Looks Back at His Four Years in Office

The memoir covers Biden’s presidency from 2021 to 2025. Its release gives him a chance to reflect on those years in his own words. The conversations he’d hoped to have around the launch would have given him additional opportunities to discuss the period with readers.

The announcement came as attention was turning to the book and what Biden might say about his time in office. Instead of announcing a fuller schedule, he explained what he could manage. His description of better and harder days gave some context for that decision without laying out what any particular day looks like for him.

Biden Announced His Prostate Cancer Diagnosis in May 2025

Biden made his diagnosis public in May 2025, several months after leaving the White House. His office said at the time that the prostate cancer had spread to his bones and was hormone-sensitive. He completed a course of radiation treatment in October of that year.

The earlier announcements concerned the diagnosis and a milestone in his treatment. In his Sunday post, Biden focused on how he was doing and how the illness was affecting the plans he had made. He said his doctors were encouraged by his response while making clear that some days still called for him to slow down.

He Thanked the People Who Had Reached Out to His Family

Biden included Jill and the rest of the family when he thanked people for their support. He spoke about the prayers and messages of kindness they had received, making the update as much an acknowledgment of the people who had reached out as an explanation of why he was cutting back on book appearances.

The family has lived through another loss to cancer. Biden’s son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015. In the years since, Beau’s death has remained part of the family’s story. In this update about his own illness, Biden chose to thank the people who had thought of the family and to share a lesson from an earlier generation.

He Ended With Advice He Remembered From His Father

At the close of the post, Biden recalled what his father used to tell him. “Champ, when you get knocked down, get up.” He said he still saw it as advice for himself and for the country.

The words followed a practical decision about what he can take on. Biden had wanted more chances to sit down and talk about his presidency as the memoir came out. With fewer of those conversations ahead, readers will have his written account of the years he spent in office, while he takes the launch one day at a time.