In her newly released memoir, 107 Days, former Vice President Kamala Harris offers a behind-the-scenes look at the selection of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her 2024 running mate.
The book, which chronicles the arc of what became the shortest presidential campaign in modern history, pulls back the curtain on her thinking as she weighed her choices—and, ultimately, why she decided Walz was the safest political companion.
The selection process, as Harris describes it, was narrowed to three figures: Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, and Walz. Each candidate embodied different strengths, but Harris makes clear that personality and posture toward the vice presidency mattered most to her decision.
Shapiro, she admits, was polished, poised, and persuasive. But Harris questioned whether his evident ambition would cause friction in a partnership where loyalty is paramount.
She recounts bluntly telling him that a vice president is “not a copresident” after he pressed to be “in the room for every decision.” That insistence, she writes, raised doubts about whether he could truly embrace a secondary role.
Kelly, by contrast, was less about ambition and more about vulnerability. Harris questioned whether a former astronaut and decorated naval captain, used to deference, could adapt to the rough-and-tumble of national politics—particularly in a bruising campaign against Donald Trump. Could a man who had earned respect his entire career weather a strategy aimed at cutting him down? Harris concluded the risk was high.
Enter Walz. From the first words out of his mouth, Harris describes a man who seemed to doubt his own prospects. “‘Whether or not you pick me, I’m going to do everything I can to get you elected,’” he told her. He admitted weaknesses without hesitation—“I’m not a good debater,” “I’ve never used a teleprompter”—and, in Harris’ telling, displayed a rare kind of authenticity.
Unlike Shapiro, Walz had no grand vision of the vice presidency, no hidden ambition to ascend. His willingness to take direction, Harris writes, made him appealing.
She portrays Walz as rooted, humble, and focused on service rather than stature. To her, this guaranteed loyalty. “Every day as president I’ll have ninety-nine problems,” she recalls saying, “and my VP can’t be one.”
