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Joe Biden Says Prostate Cancer Will Limit “Promise Me, America” Book Tour
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Biden says aggressive prostate cancer diagnosis requires ongoing treatment and limits public appearances. He will scale back the memoir promotion tour due to health slowing him down.
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Biden to scale back
Former President Joe Biden said Sunday that his prostate cancer will limit his promotional appearances for his upcoming presidential memoir, “Promise Me, America,” because “some days are better than others” and the illness “slows me down.”
Biden wrote that he “won’t be able to do as many conversations about my book as I’d hoped,” while also saying his doctors “continue to be encouraged by how I’ve responded to treatment.”
Biden’s post tied the change in his schedule to his ongoing treatment for prostate cancer, and it came as his memoir promotion was set to run ahead of the book’s Nov. 17 release date.
NBC News said Biden’s memoir is due out on Nov. 17 and described the book as covering “the decisions I made, and why I made them,” while Biden’s own message emphasized that he hoped “the words on the page speak for themselves.”
Diagnosis and treatment
Biden’s office disclosed in May 2025 that he had an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones, and Biden later said doctors remained “optimistic” given the good response to treatment.
Biden had undergone radiation therapy and said he explained, “Some days are better than others. It hasn’t stopped me, but sometimes it slows me down.”
Biden, 83, had undertaken courses of radiation therapy and hormone treatment, and it also described his memoir as detailing his four years in the White House.
The Times of India said Biden’s office described the cancer as having a Gleason score of 9 and as already spread to his bones, and it added that the cancer appeared to be hormone-sensitive.
What the memoir means
Biden said his memoir, “Promise Me, America,” would cover his years as President and the “challenges we faced, the decisions I made, and why I made them,” and he framed the book as “about my faith in the American people and the great American experiment in self-governance and democracy.”
The memoir is described as delving into “his campaign, his presidency, his decision to run again,” and it “reveals the deeply agonizing calculation behind his decision in the summer of 2024 to step aside.”
Biden indicated afterward that he felt intense pressure to finish quickly as he battled the disease, and it quoted him writing, “Some days are better than others. It hasn’t stopped me. But sometimes it slows me down.”
ABC Noticias said Biden confirmed the official release of his memoirs titled Promise Me, America, scheduled for November 17, while also quoting him on his health limits and his hope that “the written words on the page will speak for themselves.”