Politicians love writing memoirs. Barack Obama has two (three if you count the partly-autobiographical The Audacity of Hope), Hillary Clinton four, and Pete Buttigieg two. These tomes attempt to create and cement a particular historical narrative about the past, for the future, placing their protagonists firmly in the Great Men of History pantheon. Both winners and losers have much to say, it seems: Obama’s 768-page A Promised Land is only the first of two volumes about his presidency (the audiobook is 29 hours long). Hillary Clinton keeps writing memoirs before and after political losses, and it is unclear if these are pitches for future jobs (“Open to Work” to use the LinkedIn term), or attempts to recast her decades of disappointment to show people what they could have had. Memoirs can also be excellent sources of income, especially for those who command advances that ordinary writers only dream of: Obama and his wife Michelle received a reported and record-breaking $65 million for both their books. Joe Biden is said to have received $10 million for his forthcoming work.
According to the initial schedule reviewed by Semafor, by Nov. 19 nearly all affected federal workers will receive pay they missed during the shutdown.