Gov. Ron DeSantis is writing an autobiography that will publish early next year, yet another sign that the Florida governor is getting serious about a 2024 presidential run in the wake of his landslide reelection win.
DeSantis’ new book, “The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival,” will be published by Broadside, a branch of HarperCollins Publishers that focuses on conservative nonfiction. It is scheduled to come out on Feb. 28, HarperCollins confirmed to the Miami Herald.
The details of the book’s release were first reported by Fox News. Politico revealed the “lucrative” book deal in February.
While DeSantis has not said he is running for president and generally avoided questions about whether he would challenge former President Donald Trump in a GOP primary, he has fueled speculation of a 2024 bid by campaigning with other candidates and attending fundraisers around the country.
Trump announced his third consecutive run for the White House earlier this month from his Mar-a-Lago club.
Other potential 2024 Republican candidates, including former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have released books in recent weeks as they debate whether to run for the GOP nomination.
According to HarperCollins, DeSantis’ book will present his “battle-tested blueprint for America’s revival” and tell “story after story of victory over entrenched elites.”
It will describe his decision to reopen Florida before most other states during the COVID-19 pandemic, a defining and controversial decision in his first term that earned him praise from Republicans and a platform in the national party. The book will also highlight his focus on parents’ involvement in their children’s education, his stance on immigration, “woke corporations” and “the partisan legacy media.”
“Everyone can see Governor Ron DeSantis is a gifted leader, and now people will discover he’s also a gifted writer. His book explains how he applies his sense of True North to life and leadership,” said Broadside VP & Editorial Director Eric Nelson.
This is DeSantis’ second book. His first is, “Dreams From Our Founding Fathers: First Principles in the Age of Obama,” which he published in 2011.
The autobiography is also expected to recount key moments growing up before attending Yale University and Harvard Law School, his marriage to Casey DeSantis, her battle with cancer and raising their three children, as well as “critical issues that brought him to the center of the debate over the future of our country.”
In a statement shared by HarperCollins, DeSantis writes, “What Florida has done is establish a blueprint for governance that has produced tangible results while serving as a rebuke to the entrenched elites who have driven our nation into the ground. Florida is proof positive that we, the people are not powerless in the face of these elites.”
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