Vice President Kamala Harris launched her memoir just this week. Within it, she provides an introspective and sometimes painful examination of her triumphs and failures during her time in office. Harris expresses her frustrations regarding the questioning of her loyalty to President Joe Biden, the intricacies of international diplomacy, and the political landscape that has shaped her tenure. She shines a spotlight on major accomplishments — such as her 2021 visit to France to patch up relations following the disastrous security pact. She offers frank assessments of her relationship with Biden, compounded by their intertwined political history.
Harris’s memoir records her experiences in intimate, often painful detail. It’s a smart move because of how it directly responds to perhaps the biggest criticism she’s faced throughout her political career. She does not hold back in sharing her frustrations. By doing so, she brings attention to the difficulty of navigating a dangerous political climate and still emerging intact with honor and actual effectiveness.
Loyalty and Frustration
One recurring idea in Harris’s memoir is her annoyance over this annual read on her fidelity to the president. She recounts instances where doubts about her commitment surfaced, particularly around the time of the AUKUS submarine deal that strained relations between the United States and France. Harris reveals that she felt this skepticism was unfounded, stating, “This was total nonsense, but the White House seemed glad to let reporting about my ‘gaffe’ overwhelm the significant thaw in foreign relations I’d achieved.”
Further, she discusses how these stereotypes affected her working rapport with Biden. Harris insists that their rapport is genuine, despite external narratives suggesting otherwise. She recalls a conversation with Biden where he informed her that some “real powerbrokers in Philly” had chosen not to support her due to rumors that she had spoken poorly of him. This unexpected development highlights the complex interplay of loyalty and political calculation in their marriage of convenience.
In a disarming interview with the New York Times, Harris says she was concerned about Biden’s mental fitness during the campaign. She says she respects all the concern expressed about his health, but wants to be clear that she never called on him to drop out of the race. “What I do know is he needed rest, and you’re not going to get it during an election campaign,” she writes.
Diplomatic Endeavors
From the diplomatic lens, Harris’s trip abroad to France in late 2021 has proved to be an exception and perhaps a high point of her vice presidency. At a time when the new Australia-UK-US security pact had created a firestorm of offense with France, Harris responded by making a visit to Paris. Her immediate task was to repair the deteriorating bilateral ties. In meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, she hoped to “warm the chill” that had settled over Franco-American relations.
While she did urge U.S.-French cooperation on defense issues during their meeting, Harris stressed that the partnership should extend far beyond military matters. She understood that leaving the committee would damage goodwill and trust beyond repair after a diplomatic rupture that continued to have global repercussions. Harris said, “This had created a lot of rough edges,” but internally, her work was focused on encouraging a constructive conversation going on in the future.
The memoir goes much deeper into the intricacies of international relations during her time in office. In her latest op-ed, she points out that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s behavior undermines the Biden administration. She portrays Netanyahu as “hellbent on sabotaging Joe Biden” in their meetings.
Political Landscape and Challenges
Throughout her memoir, Harris is refreshingly honest about the obstacles she encountered within the Biden administration and external critics. She writes about her frustration that no one in the White House attempted to defend her once bad stories started coming out about her. “Getting anything positive said about my work or any defense against untrue attacks was almost impossible,” she laments.
It is interesting to hear Harris reflect on the protests that she faced at her rallies. She was particularly frustrated that anti-genocide demonstrators targeted her events while seemingly overlooking similar actions by former President Donald Trump. That disparity underscored for her the difficulty women of color encounter in political spaces.
Harris opens up on how much she almost chose Pete Buttigieg to be her running mate. Ultimately, she picked fellow Midwesterner and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. This decision came in incredible circumstances. …during an “excruciatingly tight timeframe” immediately following the announcement of her presidential nomination, while illustrating the punishing double standards and challenges she endured throughout her historic political career.
Perhaps the most jarring revelation in her memoir comes in her shocking description of a phone call she received from Trump. His remarks came soon after an assassination attempt on his life. She fondly characterizes him as “surprisingly effusive,” uncovering a strange but real relationship between two adversarial political titans.
