I Read 107 Days by Kamala Harris So You Don’t Have To (But You Should)

By Abigayle Cragin 

Can you rise to the occasion? When the pressure is on and the stakes have never been higher, can you make the decisions and sacrifices necessary to get the job done? And to do it efficiently? Kamala Harris can. Not only did she go the distance, she maintained her pace each and every step of the way. 107 Days is the first-person account of running for President of the United States in the 2024 election. Harris details each step of the process from Joe Biden dropping out, to analyzing the aftermath of the election up until at least May of this year. 

  The book begins in a calm chaos, the kind that only comes when pressure is so high that you find clarity amidst the adrenaline. On July 21, 2024, Harris was informed that she would be taking over Joe Biden’s role running as the democratic candidate for President of the United States. Kamala’s team immediately assembled; she alone made over 100 calls that day to earn the support of delegates and other major names in the party.  

  I would like to emphasize that it was Kamala’s 17-person team that gathered at the Vice President's residence that day. She recalled throughout the beginning of the book that Biden’s team had incidentally, and intentionally, disparaged her name in the course of Joe’s presidency; it was vital that she had the full, unwavering support of extraordinarily qualified people that truly believed in her mission.  

  The campaign trail is an arduous test of endurance, and Kamala was running that marathon at a sprinter's pace. Each day was scheduled down to the minute and packed full of tasks and obligations; afterall, she was expected to perform all of the VP’s typical duties while concurrently running an incredibly successful campaign. The middle portion of the book describes nearly each of the 107 days and what they each entailed. Some of the details of each day are familiar to us, working out, getting ready for the day, and mealtimes. But other details were more involved: White House briefings, meetings with domestic and international leaders, calls and interstate travel. The kicker is that for Kamala, all of these things could happen in a single day, and then some. Harris notes that her faith community and the Divine Nine, black Greek-letter organizations, kept her grounded over those exhausting days.  

  The campaign strategy for Harris was fresh, new, and arguably risky. Kamala’s team utilized all kinds of non-traditional means to reach voters across the nation: TikTok, podcasts, and Saturday Night Live, just to name a few. The slogan quickly became, “We’re Not Going Back,” a clever retort to the Trump campaign’s “Make America Great Again,” that implicitly promises to have the country regress.  

  Fast forward to Election Day and time begins to stand still. Kamala’s meditation that day was nothing short of timely, it read:  

  “There comes a point where you’ve done all you can do. When your work has been completed . . . [t]hat’s when you just stand. Stand believing and knowing you’ve done your part. Stand in the strength given to you by God.” 

  That evening at the Vice President's residence, a privately planned family dinner soon became a “Last Supper.” This is because right before then Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff arrived for dinner that evening he received a grim status report: the Fox decision desk (known for its exceptional ability to collect election data, i.e. accurately calling Arizona for Biden long before anyone else) was predicting Trump would sweep the key swing states of Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, and likely Pennsylvania. Kamala unknowingly goes upstairs to prepare for her scheduled remarks at Howard that evening around 9:15 p.m. and within the hour she was faced with the harrowing realization that not only would she not be delivering any remarks that night, but she would not be named the 47^th President of the United States of America. The rest of that night and the next day became a daze, a cycle of denial and bargaining.  

  What now? Kamala found hope and an opportunity for growth in the aftermath of the election–something a lot of us struggle with, even an entire year later. Harris took the faith that she lost in the White House and channeled it into empowering the next generation to continue the fight. That being said, right now it remains unclear if we will see a “Harris for President” campaign in 2028.  

  Naturally, my thoughts on the book are woven into my synopsis with a few exceptions: 

  1. The flow of the story is incredible. The pace of the book depends solely on the pace of the campaign as the days went on. The intensity of the book increased rapidly at the outset, the middle section covering the 107 days is dense and heavy even when lighter moments are sprinkled in, the climax was uncomfortably still–the eye of the hurricane, and the end was light, optimistic, but nonetheless realistic.  

  2. I strongly recommend listening to the audiobook version, read by Kamala. In my opinion, there is great importance on how Harris delivers different parts of the story. Listening from her perspective helps to eliminate misconstruing the meaning of the words according to your own bias.  

  I think that if you are at all interested in the subject of the 2024 election, this is an easy, quick, and essential read from a candidate's perspective.

Overall Rating: Four Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐