Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is ready to tell his story.
The publisher Simon & Schuster announced Monday that it plans to release a memoir next year written by the 81-year-old U.S. senator. The book, titled “The Road Taken,” is expected in April 2022, the company said in a press release.
According to Simon & Schuster, Leahy’s memoir will recount “a life lived on the front lines of American politics” — from his childhood in Montpelier to his 1974 U.S. Senate election to his service as chair of the Senate’s judiciary and appropriations committees. The company described Leahy as “a master political leader and consummate legislator.”
The book “takes readers inside the room as pivotal moments in our nation’s history play out,” according to the press release, including the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and the two impeachments of President Donald Trump.
Despite his lengthy tenure, Leahy has been the subject of just one biography — “Senator Leahy: A Life in Scenes,” which was written by state Sen. Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden, and released in 2017. Baruth said in an interview that when he first approached Leahy’s staff about the biography in 2009, they suggested that the senator himself might be interested in writing a memoir.
“The Road Taken” will be illustrated with Leahy’s own photographs, according to the press release. Leahy was born legally blind in one eye, but is keenly interested in photography and often shoots from the Senate floor.
“He’s taken thousands and thousands of amazing photographs at every bill signing. At every diplomatic event he’s always got his camera,” Baruth said. “He sort of overcompensates [for his blindness] by competing in areas that are dominated by excellent visual acuity. He was on the sharp shooting team, and he was a photographer for the yearbook, so both things you just use one eye but you have to use amazingly well.”
The announcement of the memoir’s release comes just a few months before Leahy is expected to reveal whether he plans to retire or seek a ninth term in the Senate in November 2022. Baruth said he does not interpret the book news as a signal that Leahy is planning to call it quits.
“I think he plans to run and the Senate’s gonna be his home as long as he’s in public office,” Baruth said. “When you’ve worked as long and hard as he has, he’s now at the pinnacle. He’s in [the line of succession] for the presidency. He’s president pro tem, chair of appropriations. Stepping away from that absent some really compelling reason is hard to imagine.”
