Hi, I'm Melissa NADwarnie, and this is NPR's book of the day.

Few, if any, know President Biden better than his wife, Jill.

And at a time when it's not so clear who the leaders of the Democratic Party are,

the former First Lady, perhaps an overlooked leader, and for certain, a key observer,

has written a book with the inside scoop

on Joe Biden's presidency. She talked with NPR Scott Detrow about her new memoir, View from the East Wing.

This month will mark two years since the beginning of the end of a presidency. When the calls for

then-president Joe Biden to end his campaign for a second term

reached a fever pitch. Dealing with everything we have to do with, look, if we finally beat

Medicare. This month also marks the first time we are hearing about that period from the person

closest to the former president, his wife, Jill Biden.

She sat down with me to discuss her new memoir, View from the East Wing.

You are walking offstage with President Biden after that debate.

Yes. Yeah.

And he turns to you and he says, I really effed up, didn't I?

And you said, yes, you did.

Yes, you did. Yeah. At the time, the former First, didn't I? And you said, yes, you did. Yeah.

At the time, the former First Lady didn't think it was the beginning of the end.

Jill Biden told me she never questioned her husband's fitness for office before or after that debate performance.

But as the weeks went on that summer, it became clear to the Bidens that most Democrats disagreed.

Biden dropped out of the race and quickly endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris.

When he did make that announcement, you write in a lot of detail about that day, and you

...