107 Days

Harris’s most pressing task was to select a vice presidential candidate. She had just 11 days to complete a process that usually took months. Harris clearly remembers her own journey to becoming vice president, including the nine-hour final “investigation” into every aspect of her past, the press that staked out her DC apartment before the decision came in, and being shuttled to her interview with Joe Biden in an SUV, where she had to duck down to avoid detection.

On July 27, Harris took Air Force Two to Massachusetts, where a previously planned campaign event had blown up after the announcement that Biden was no longer the top of the ticket. Instead of raising the target $400,000, the event pulled in more than $1.5 million.

It was a friendly crowd in the blue state of Massachusetts, and looking out into the assembled supporters, Harris thought, “I cannot fail these people” (65).

Harris spent Sunday working on campaign strategy and convention plans. The convention had been planned for Biden, so much of the program had to be reworked to make sure the event told Harris’s story and highlighted her vision for her presidency. It was her chance “to reclaim [her] narrative and [her] identity” (68).

Meanwhile, Harris’s work as vice president continued. That day, Biden called to tell her that a prisoner swap she had facilitated between the United States, Germany, Norway, Poland, and Russia was finally happening. Russia had two US citizens in prison, former US Marine Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. After the chaos of Trump’s first term, foreign governments were hesitant to align themselves with the United States. However, Harris was able to bring the negotiating parties to the table, and now the US citizens were on their way home.

Next, Harris had to turn her attention to debate preparation. Her team insisted the goal “was not to be the biggest wonk on the stage” (70); it was her chance to show the American people that she could be “confident, clear, and unrattled” (70). Together with her team, Harris developed a “debate book” full of the issues they expected to come up. From there, they devised talking points, arguments, and possible rebuttals that Harris drilled until she thoroughly understood them.

Ten thousand people in Atlanta attended the Harris campaign’s first official rally. Megan Thee Stallion and Quavo had been lined up to perform. Some of Harris’s supporters worried that these choices were too provocative; she needed to be “middle of the road” and make sure she appealed to as broad a voter base as possible (74). However, the rally was a huge success, and new polls soon found Harris neck-and-neck with Trump.

In 2021, Harris hosted German Chancellor Angela Merkel for breakfast in the vice president’s residence. Harris found the chancellor “warm, with a great sense of humor” (75), and Merkel shared advice with Harris on how to succeed as a female politician. She told Harris how political attacks against her had been personal and mean; as a female politician, she warned Harris to never “let them make [her] cry” (76).

Harris was on her way to Houston when her media advisor and chief of staff told her that Trump claimed Harris “happened to turn Black and now […] wants to be known as Black” (77). The same day, Laura Loomer, a conspiracy theorist and Trump supporter, posted on X about an affair Doug had during his previous marriage. Harris knew about the affair, and they had disclosed it during her vetting for vice president, but she “hated” that Doug’s children and ex-wife were being targeted. Doug and his former wife, Kerstin, both issued statements to clear the matter up so Harris could stay focused on her campaign and decide how to counter Trump’s attacks on her identity. Harris, the daughter of an Indian woman and a Jamaican-born Black man, refused “to take Trump’s bait” (78-79). She pushed back on her advisors’ suggestion to give a speech on racial identity, arguing she would be asked to “show [her] vagina” next to prove she was a woman (79).

Former hostages Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan landed on American soil just after midnight on August 1, and Harris and the president greeted them at Joint Base Andrews along with their families. Their safe return was an effort that involved six countries, and it was made possible only because of the hard work Harris had done to mend the relationships left in the wake of Trump’s first term. It was an example of “the kind of skilled diplomacy that Trump and Vance […] scorned” (80).

By Friday morning, Harris had narrowed her choice for vice president down to three finalists: Mark Kelly, Josh Shapiro, and Tim Walz. The candidate had to be chosen by Monday, so the interviews had to take place over the weekend. Word came through on Friday afternoon that Harris had crossed the threshold of delegate votes needed to officially secure the Democratic nomination, a historic moment that Harris barely took the time to appreciate.

Meanwhile, Trump had announced that he would debate Harris after all, with a few stipulations that included a change of venue and date. With the Harris campaign plunging forward and raising more money every day, Harris felt she held the upper hand, so she responded that she “would be in the ABC studio on September 10 whether [Trump] was there or not” (84).

In preparation for interviews with her prospective running mates, Harris called a few people she knew could offer “candid and confidential advice” (85), including Bill and Hillary Clinton. They advised her to choose someone who worked with her “joyful energy” and with whom she could build a “genuine relationship.”

Harris’s social secretary and residence manager, Storm Horncastle, would collect each candidate in her Jeep. Harris trusted Storm’s judgment of character and willingness to speak plainly, and she knew she would be able to learn something valuable about the finalist by how they treated Storm, someone less powerful than they. Harris needed to be sure that her running mate would treat everyone with respect.

Harris interviewed Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro first. Shapiro and Harris had much in common, and Harris was a great admirer of his work. However, over the course of his interview with Harris, he gave her the impression that he might be “unable to settle for a role as number two” (89). Next to arrive was Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. From the moment the interview began, Walz seemed sure that he would not get the job. He and Harris were very different, but she was drawn to his “appealing authenticity” and ability to be “genuinely self-deprecating” (90). He was hardworking, down-to-earth, and had an impressive political resume. Most importantly, Harris knew that Walz would “notice who was not in the room and would know how to reach them” (90). She was also sure that his own political aspirations wouldn’t get in the way of being vice president; she could trust him to support her without worrying that his ambition would “[play] a corrosive role in the relationship and [cause] disloyalty” (91).

Harris’s third interview of the day was with Arizona senator and “American hero” Mark Kelly. Kelly, a US Navy veteran and astronaut who had “fought tirelessly for sensible gun reform” (92) after the attempted assassination of his wife, Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, impressed Harris with his charisma and embodiment of the “American ideal of selfless service” (93). However, as a relatively new politician, she wondered if he had the thick skin he would need for the campaign and worried it would be unfair to put him to such a cruel test.

With the meetings concluded, Harris conferred with her selection committee and advisors, spoke with her godson to gain a young person’s perspective, and spent a considerable amount of time in discussion with Doug. The decision was ultimately Harris’s to make, and once she had all the input she could take, she took time to unwind and made a pork roast.

Before the day was over, she had decided to select Tim Walz as her running mate.

Even though selecting a running mate was taking up much of Harris’s time and energy, she still had to balance her campaign with the responsibilities of being vice president. Tensions were rising between Iran and Israel, and Harris was needed in the Situation Room. National security was of the utmost importance to Harris, and for her entire tenure as vice president, she kept the text and camera capacity on her phone disabled for both official and unofficial business.

Earlier in the year, Iran had launched an attack against Israel, and only “intense diplomatic efforts” on behalf of the Biden administration had prevented “an uncontrollable escalation” (98). Now, Biden and his team met to ensure the US was doing everything possible to keep the tensions under control. Harris describes Biden as “always focused, always commander in chief in that room” (98).

Harris met Tim Walz’s family at their first joint rally at Temple University. Walz and his wife, Gwen, had two children: a young adult daughter and a son with special needs who was still in high school. Harris wasn’t sure how Gwen would handle the new, high-profile position the campaign put her and her family in, but she joined the campaign trail with “warmth, heart, and soul” (99).

Walz had been a high school football coach for many years, and Harris wanted the campaign to “lean into” this aspect of his identity; because the campaign was on such a short schedule, “that immediate connection was important” (100). At the rally, Harris told the audience how Walz had coached a football team from not scoring a single touchdown to winning the state championship, and about how he became the faculty advisor for the school’s first gay-straight alliance. Doug led Walz and his family onstage to huge cheers; the room was full of joyful energy and “[I]t seemed like anything was possible” (101).

Harris’s first campaign stop was at Chippewa Valley Regional Airport. They were met by the local Girl Scout Troop, with whom Harris chatted about summer plans. Then, she climbed into her motorcade, but there was an unexpected delay: J.D. Vance was on the tarmac, walking toward Air Force Two, reportedly to “check out [his] future plane” (103). Harris was furious with this “juvenile stunt.” Harris was already annoyed with Vance for accusing Walz of overstating his involvement in the military while advocating for gun reform. Walz had served 27 years in the National Guard but had never seen combat, causing Vance to accuse him of “stolen valor.”

At joint rallies, Walz proved his ability to connect with rural Americans on issues like “reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ issues, and how Trump’s Republicans infringed on basic freedoms” (105). When it was time for Harris to address the crowd, they began an enthusiastic chant of “Lock him up!” as she talked about Trump. Harris put a stop to it, telling the crowd that “[t]he courts are going to handle that part of it” (106). Later in the evening, Harris and Walz spoke at another rally near Detroit, which drew such large crowds that Trump complained on Truth Social that the photographs were likely AI-generated. Harris knew her opponent “was getting rattled” (106).

On August 8, Harris and Walz met with Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, and spoke to gathered union members. They asked the assembled members to do everything they could to help the campaign organize and secure union votes. For the next 89 days, it was all-hands on deck. Walz told them: “Tell people, ‘Sleep when you’re dead, you’ve got work to do’” (108).

At a rally in Bozeman, Montana, Trump mocked Harris’s name, complaining that it was difficult to pronounce. It was disrespectful, but also as a way of suggesting that Harris “was alien, other, too different to lead America” (109). He called her “dumb” and implied that she was the one hesitant to go through with the debate. Harris knew this “volley of insults” was a sign that Trump was nervous about the momentum the Harris campaign had gained (109). The chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee described Harris’s campaign as being in the “honeymoon period” but predicted that the wave of enthusiasm would dry up after the Democratic National Convention. Harris notes that “[i]t turned out to be more complicated than that” (110).

In Phoenix, Harris was again interrupted by protesters demanding an end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. She told them she had been working “full-time” on a solution as vice president and intended to continue doing so as president. The next day, an Israeli strike killed at least 80 more Palestinians. Addressing reporters, Harris reiterated that Israel had the right to defend their own security and “go after Hamas” (111), but it also had a responsibility to mitigate the threat to civilians in Gaza.

Harris spoke to the 12,000 assembled supporters about the endorsement she had received from the Culinary Workers Union. She discussed her proposal to eliminate the tax on tips, along with an increase in the minimum wage, and assurances that she would make sure the wealthy couldn’t take advantage of tax loopholes.

In San Francisco, Harris spoke at a dinner with supporters who had raised over $12 million for her campaign. She also took the opportunity to speak with Silicon Valley leaders about her concern over Elon Musk, the billionaire head of Tesla and SpaceX, who had been on the campaign trail for Trump. She knew something was “brewing” and wanted to ensure pro-democratic tech industry donors were combatting disinformation.

Musk had a scheduled interview with Trump on his social media platform, X. It started 42 minutes late and consisted of “the usual litany of insults and lies […] as the two edgelords stroked each other’s egos” (117).