Review: ‘107 Days’

Kamala Harris was the first ever black-female vice-president of the United States. Following her four-year run with president Joe Biden, she was the highest-ranking female official in the history of the United States. Taking a step forward, with the shortest campaign in U.S. history only lasting 107 days, Harris made a lasting impact despite her loss in the 2024 presidential election. Through her aptly titled new memoir, “107 Days,” released Sept 23rd 2025 Harris reveals her triumph while conducting her historic campaign.

Each chapter goes by an increment of each day Harris spent meticulously planning and making choices for her presidential campaign. This style of writing and structure gives the audience first-hand experience of what it was like for Harris to run her campaign, day to day, from the moment Biden dropped out the election.

On July 21 2024, Biden called Harris and simply stated over a phone call: “I’ve decided I’m dropping out.” This served as a catalyst for Harris and her campaign, as she later said on that call, “I would give it all I’ve got, because Trump has to be beaten.”

Harris spares no detail behind her thoughts during the short time it took for her to run. From the first press conferences Harris spoke honestly and proudly as she navigated tribulations of the public’s perception of her, fully prepared to tell her side of the story.

As soon as her race for presidency was announced, Harris recounted the reception, retelling the received calls from many politicians, like Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, “Saddle up! Joe did what I hoped he would do. But you have to earn it. Michelle and I are supportive but not going to put a finger on the scale right now. Let Joe have his moment. Think through timing.” and Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, “‘Hiking. Will call back.’ (He never did).”

Harris carefully documented each detail to make her story transparent, not to antagonize, but to emphasize how she was treated on this newfound platform. She included the pressure she faced navigating the beginning of her campaign, with David Plouffe, an American Political Consultant, telling her “People hate Joe Biden.”

While never claiming to hate Biden, Harris “did have concerns. His voice was no longer strong, his verbal stumbles more frequent … [he was] perpetually, increasingly, unavoidably exhausted.”

Harris continues to reassure herself of her position in replacement of Biden. It was his time to go, and her time to take over. With past stress came euphoria and validation: “[At the first press meeting at the Oval Office after her running announcement] there was a new energy in the room as I walked onto the stage. A black woman was slated to be the democratic nominee for president. It was us. And everyone there understood what it meant: that this would be a journey of both joy and pain…The kindness and the love in that room penetrated the armor I usually wore, armor I’d need to put back on as soon as I left the room.”

She also touched on issues of climate change, middle eastern conflicts, Ukraine versus Russia and how her only goal was to have them resolved. However at some points, the book began to drag on far longer than expected. The mentions of Netanyahu and Volodymyr Zelensky became random and contrived, as it steered the story away from her actual experiences during the campaign.

Another issue occurred 102 days into her campaign: Harris had yet to select her vice president. In this section of the memoir, Harris explains the process of selecting Tim Walz as her VP. To narrow down over 100 candidates to three, Harris had to run background checks, financial assessments, ethical assessments and more: “I needed to know that my running mate was a person who valued the dignity of everyone and would take a moment to show it.”

Additionally, Harris wanted to emphasize her experience as an Attorney General. She wrote, “I think that elected attorney generals are some of the most talented and dedicated officials in the country, and I wanted to throw a spotlight on them as well.” This added dimension to Harris, as she was not just any regular politician; she dealt with first-hand social issues that she was ready to bring to the stage, but it was a question of whether or not voters were ready to deal with said social issues.

Harris was far from afraid to speak her mind. She spoke freely on what remarks she faced from her own opponent, Donald Trump, and even with her position as president-elect, she still faced prejudice-based criticism. One advisory said, “He might ask if you’ve ever had an abortion” She said, ” “Republicans had said I was a DEI hire. Did [Trump] think I was only on the ticket because I was a Black woman?” Additionally, she added, “Are you f****** kidding me? I was not about to take Trump’s bait. He lies all the time.”

From pages 100-200, Harris weaves in vignettes of what she did to uphold her candidacy. Like when she came “home to the Bay Area … to address nearly seven hundred of [her] key supporters who together just that evening had raised over $12 million for [her] campaign,” when she “did twenty-seven drafts of [her] convention speech” and  how she addressed the Apalachee High School shooting in Georgia.

Gun violence was a main key point in her campaign. While Trump called the shooter a ‘”sick and deranged monster,” Harris stated, “Every country in the world has sick and deranged individuals. Only the United States had eighty-three school shootings in 2024.”

A highlight of the reading was Harris’s re-telling of her debate with Trump, Harris claiming “I was coursing with adrenaline. I’d studied this stuff for my entire career … No matter what the question moderators asked, Trump tried to turn it (the debate) back to his scaremongering of an immigrant ‘invasion.’ I pointed out that he killed the bipartisan bill that would have strengthened the border.”

The last 100 pages of the book depict the last 35 days of the election, to certification day.

Through these last pages, Harris pushed her final values and statements, hopeful that America would vote for her “In less than ninety days, either Donald Trump or I will be in the Oval Office. On day one, if elected, Donald Trump would walk into that office with an enemies list. When elected I will walk in with a to-do list full of priorities on what I will get done for the American people.”

However, late at night of Nov. 5th 2024, it was clear that Harris would not be winning the election. With low voter turnout, and the cancellation of her speech at Howard University Harris “walked down the stairs in shock,” repeating to herself “what will happen to our country?”

Harris fought long and hard to make her way onto a platform where she faced constant doubt and insult, pushing past stereotypes she was able to make history, and despite not winning, her campaign stays impactful, knowing whom she helped on the way.

“107 Days” is a memoir full of engaging stories, humor and lessons that Harris delivered with grace. Under circumstances full of twists and a less desirable outcome, the journey was a win itself.

“It was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. I stood there and did my duty for democracy.”

Rating: 4/5