Attendees nearly filled the red auditorium chairs in the Performing Arts Center at the Martha’s Vineyard High School (MVRHS) on Thursday night to hear Dr. Jill Biden, former first lady, discuss her new book called “View From the East Wing: A Memoir.”
The discussion was a part of the Martha’s Vineyard Author Series and part of Biden’s book tour after her memoir was released in June. It was moderated by Sunny Hostin, an awardwinning legal journalist, author, and co-host of ABC’s “The View.”
Biden and Hostin sat on the same stage where MVRHS students performed the musical “Hadestown” and the Minnesingers’s spring concert took place just a few months prior. The salutatorian of MVRHS’s class of 2026 was honored by Biden on Thursday for her educational achievements and her focus on the local community.
In the discussion, Biden broached issues that ranged from her family’s experience with grief and cancer, former President Joe Biden’s health and the moment he bowed out of the running for a second term, her work as a professor at a community college as well as lighter topics, such as the food service in the White House kitchen, her security codename (“Capri,” for her Italian heritage), and her favorite Island brunch spots, which were mostly on Nantucket. She said she wrote the memoir to bring people into their world a bit and share her perspective.
“When Joe got out of office, all these people were writing books about their analysis of the White House: what happened and what didn’t happen. And I thought, I want to tell my story,” Biden said to the crowd of over 200 on Thursday.
Biden’s new memoir takes the reader into the White House for the four years her husband was president, from 2021 to 2025. He took office less than a year into a global pandemic that rewrote everyone’s reality, and during his presidency, the public questioned Biden’s health and his age. He was 78 years old when he was sworn in.
Although he began a campaign to run for office for a second term, he eventually removed himself from the running, a move which Biden received criticism for from both sides of the political aisle. His wife addressed some of this on Thursday.
She said his health was a concern of hers, and a speech he made on stage with Trump made her wonder if he was “having a stroke.” He dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris a few weeks after videos went viral online. Soon after, he found out his doctors missed a stage four prostate cancer diagnosis, which Jill said he’s still getting treated for.
“You look at him and you say, ‘God, he looks great and he seems fine.’ But I know the real story. And those of you — and I know there are many in the audience, and I’m so sorry — any of you who are dealing with family members who have cancer or who have had cancer, may I say, I know how hard it is, and screenings are so important,” Biden said.
Biden’s work with women, including breast cancer treatments and healthcare, was a massive part of her work as first lady. Although she was the only first lady to continue holding a job outside of the White House in history, her advocacy for women remained throughout the four years.
Biden also discussed the layout of the White House and her favorite wing, which she named her memoir after.
Biden said she adorned the East Wing of the White House with artwork from the children of active military personnel in an educational multi-media display. It was “magical,” she wrote in her book.
“I wanted people to know that the Bidens were a military family and how much we honored our military. And as you continued down the hall, the pictures used to be static, and they didn’t move. But as a teacher, I knew people have so many different ways of learning,” Biden said. “So I decided to change it.”
While she was first lady, she made that wing of the white-pillared building, which housed generations of presidents before them, a symbol of their welcoming attitude toward the public, she said.
Last October, Trump ordered that the East Wing be torn down to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom instead. The former structure was reduced to rubble, the artwork removed, and the entrance demolished.
That moment, Biden said on Thursday, was one of many that’s been devastating to grapple with since her husband left office.
“The East Wing is where visitors come. That’s where they enter, and it’s so special, or it was,” Biden said.