Annie Linskey
Emily Glazer
and Erich Schwartzel
May 24, 2025 5:00 am ET
Former President Joe Biden PHOTO: ANNABELLE GORDON/REUTERSWhen Joe Biden left office in January, he sought to follow the template set by his predecessors for a post-presidency: Raise funds for a library, deliver a memoir and hit the speaking circuit.
Instead, he has been derailed by a battle to salvage his tarnished legacy—and an urgent fight against stage-4 prostate cancer that kills most men within five years. A stream of new books detailing the extent of his decline while in office and the efforts to conceal it has spawned a fresh round of recriminations over the 82-year-old’s presidency.
The twists have turned the final chapter in Biden’s half-century of public life into a solemn and diminished period that stands to further erode his standing in history.
Some major donors have been reluctant to give money to his presidential library, and some allies privately worry it will not open during his lifetime, according to several donors and Biden allies. Biden’s speaking fees, which can range from $300,000 to $500,000, are below what former President Barack Obama commands, according to people familiar with the arrangements. So far, few organizations have been willing to pay for Biden.
Making matters more difficult, Biden faces pressure that other past presidents didn’t. He aims to quickly amass an inheritance for his grandchildren, according to people familiar with his finances. His son Hunter, with five children, has struggled to find a professional footing and another son, Beau, died in 2015, leaving prongs of the family for whom the Bidens have taken on some financial responsibility.
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden boarding Air Force One in January. PHOTO: ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGESThe most significant hurdle is a hardening view that his presidency failed to deliver on its core promise of moving the country past Donald Trump, according to interviews with Democratic donors and party leaders who are horrified by Trump’s policies. Rather than becoming a bridge to the next generation of Democrats, Biden’s term bridged two nonconsecutive Trump administrations, the most recent of which is bulldozing his agenda.
Raising money for a library “will be a heavy lift in light of all that has transpired,” said John Morgan, a Florida-based lawyer and onetime major Biden donor, who said that Biden failed to set up the next generation of Democratic leaders for success. Another donor was clear with the Biden team: The donor would give one check, one time, but not multiple ones. Other Democratic donors who once supported Biden said they didn’t plan to give to the library.
Biden’s sister, Valerie Biden Owens, has approached some donors, asking for money to fund the Biden Institute at the University of Delaware, which launched in 2017 after his vice presidency. The university also houses his Senate papers. Some donors speculate the institute could be built out into a presidential library, though no official announcement on the plans has been made.
A Biden spokesman said that the former president hasn’t started to formally solicit money for his library.
Life after Washington
After watching Trump’s inauguration speech in the U.S. Capitol, Joe and Jill Biden boarded the light blue Boeing 747 that he used as president, its call sign now changed to “Special Air Mission 46” from “Air Force One” to reflect the new status of the country’s 46th president. Their destination was the sprawling southern California estate of his friend Joe Kiani.
The now former president and first lady were “catching their breath,” said Kiani, after four years in the White House—and a public service career that had lasted 54 years, since Biden won his first election in 1970 at age 27. They wanted to “have a reset.”
A recently released book examining Biden’s health while in office. PHOTO: SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGESDuring that visit, Biden was energetic and talked about his post-White House plans, said Kiani. Biden and his allies were distressed by Trump’s leadership of the country, he said. “He deeply cares,” Kiani said.
The next month, Biden was supposed to attend Kiani’s 60th birthday party but canceled because of a dental issue, according to Kiani. In retrospect, Kiani now wonders if the ailment was related to the cancer found months later.
More recently, Biden has mostly been living at his home in Wilmington, Del., and travels by Amtrak to Washington about once a week for meetings, according to people familiar with the matter. At times he has taken selfies with other passengers—and he even gave a brief interview about Pope Leo to CNN’s Dana Bash who caught up with him on an Amtrak ride. He has spoken at or otherwise attended a smattering of events—typically ones that aren’t announced to the public or are closed—including a St. Patrick’s Day breakfast in Wilmington, a Passover Seder and a service in Philadelphia where he made remarks.
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He is also at work on a memoir, according to a person familiar with the matter.