Well, folks, it looks like Joe Biden is putting pen to paper — or at least cashing a check to pretend he will.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, the former president just sold the worldwide rights to his post-White House memoir to Hachette Book Group for about $10 million. Not bad for a man who once claimed he was “the poorest guy in Congress,” right? But here’s the thing: in the presidential memoir game, that payout is… underwhelming.
How underwhelming? Let’s do some quick math. Barack and Michelle Obama reportedly scored a jaw-dropping $60 million for their memoirs. Bill Clinton? He pulled in $15 million for My Life back in 2004.
Biden? Just $10 million — barely two-thirds of Clinton’s cut from two decades ago, and a fraction of the Obamas’ haul. For someone who spent decades in D.C. and four years in the Oval Office, that has to sting a little.
And let’s not pretend we don’t know what’s driving this. As journalist Mark Halperin bluntly put it earlier this year, “Biden, Inc., needs a source of revenue. The trough is empty, the spigot has shut down.”
Translation? The post-presidency money machine isn’t exactly humming along. Biden’s paid speaking gigs — which reportedly range from $300,000 to $500,000 a pop — haven’t drawn much interest either. Compare that to Obama, who commands higher fees and still packs auditoriums, and the picture gets even bleaker.
This book deal comes at a moment when Biden’s political stock is, let’s be honest, pretty low. He bowed out of the 2024 race last summer after a disastrous debate performance that amplified every concern about his age and cognitive sharpness. He’s 82 now, fresh off a prostate cancer diagnosis, and trying to “work his tail off” on a memoir that will supposedly frame his legacy.
But as Democrats quietly distance themselves and whisper about how the party needs to move on, it feels less like a triumphant presidential reflection and more like a cash grab on the way out the door.
And you can bet the publishers know it. Hachette isn’t shelling out Obama money because, frankly, this isn’t going to be an Obama book. This is a legacy-repair project with a price tag that screams, “We’ll print it, but don’t expect a stampede to Barnes & Noble.”
