Former Vice President Kamala Harris’s new book, 107 Days, about her short time as the Democratic Party nominee for president, is, by all accounts, illuminating. Early reviews suggest that Harris was frustrated with the hand she was dealt in late July 2024 when she became her party’s nominee. From her standpoint, the decision was made far too late. But as the main subject, Harris is missing the point: She was never presidential material in the first place.

Vice presidents are historically next in line for the highest office in the land. Not just in terms of taking over if their boss is incapacitated, but in terms of running for president in the next open election cycle. The entire country knows why Joe Biden selected Harris to be his running mate in 2020. Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump in 2016, and the hopes of a female president were all but gone. As a younger woman of color, Harris represented everything Biden was not. And with her, he hoped not only to secure his presidency but to pave the way for a possible Harris presidency in the future. But Biden’s ego got in the way.