SIMI VALLEY, Calif.—In a public debut of his new memoir released this week, Former Vice President Mike Pence recounted the Jan. 6 Capitol breach and shared memories of his life during a lecture at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum on Nov. 17.
The book, “So Help Me God,” is the first Pence has written and carries readers through his political career as a congressman from Indiana and later the state’s governor, ending with personal accounts of his time spent with former President Donald Trump.
Pence spent four years working with Trump and defended the president from what he described as a “hailstorm of opposition,” but the former vice president only mentioned Trump’s name a few times near the end of an hourlong lecture.
“I couldn’t be more proud to have been vice president,” Pence said about 45 minutes into the discussion.
Pence spent much of the time detailing his actions to certify the presidential election on Jan. 6, 2021, in the Senate Chamber.
He also wrote in the book how his breaking point with Trump came after the events of Jan. 6.
“For four years, we had a close working relationship. It did not end well,” Pence wrote.
As time went on, Pence decided it was time for them to go their separate ways, he said.
Pence describes events of his term in detail throughout the book, sharing his decision to decline a request by Democratic Party leaders in the early morning hours of Jan. 7 to try to remove Trump using the 25th Amendment and make him president.
The discussion was infused with humorous moments, but Pence also shared some emotional memories of his family and meeting his wife. Pence talked about his father who was a Korean War veteran, serving in the U.S. Army, who he called the “secret star” of the book.
He met his wife, Karen, during his college years and said she has been his closest advisor and source of strength throughout his life.
“I dedicated the book to Karen, the love of my life, and it’s true from the bottom of my heart,” Pence said.
They share a strong Christian faith, he said.
“I hope in this book what comes through is that whatever we’ve accomplished, wherever we’ve been able to do … we’ve been able to do because of our faith in God, with my extraordinary wife and our extraordinary family at the foundation of it all,” Pence said.
Faith is one of the things that unites the American people, he said, as well as a desire to see children and grandchildren live the American dream.
“I do believe that strong families make strong communities and strong communities will make a strong America,” Pence said. “With strong families, there’s nothing that we can’t accomplish as Americans.”
He said someone asked him recently if he had any regrets about his time as vice president.
“The only regret I have is seeing virtually all the progress that we made dismantled over the last two years,” Pence said, describing inflation, a war on energy, and the open border. “But all that being said, If I learned anything in those Trump-Pence years, it’s the capacity of the American people to make things right and to do it quickly.”
Pence has not announced whether he intends to run for president in 2024 and did not take audience questions during the discussion. He was scheduled to meet with other Republicans in Las Vegas, according to the Associated Press.
Trump announced his campaign for presidency Nov. 16.
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