With Biden’s stunning announcement that he would step out of his reelection campaign on July 21, 2024, his approval rating actually rose as Americans gave the faltering president some credit for finally accepting the inevitable march of time. Perhaps he could ride off into his post-presidency with some dignity and hope that he would be granted enough years to remake his legacy, badly damaged by failures that seemed to outweigh successes and blame among Democrats that he caused Trump’s return to the presidency.

Like all modern presidents who left office, Biden set to work on his White House memoir. Most such books take several years to complete, but Biden noted that his publisher required a faster schedule, undoubtedly recognizing the former president’s advanced age and debilitation.

His editor was prescient. On May 18, 2025, Biden announced that doctors had diagnosed him with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones. He began treatment immediately, with the unstinting support of former First Lady Jill Biden.

Biden’s presidential papers have been placed in the National Archives, while he and his advisers discuss where a Joe Biden Presidential Library might be constructed.