Overview
- An excerpt from John Fetterman’s memoir, Unfettered, published by The Free Press, details his private struggle during the 2022 campaign, with the full book due Tuesday from Penguin Random House.
- Fetterman writes that he was suicidal for months after his October 2022 debate with Mehmet Oz, describing obsessive reading of reactions on X and harsh cable commentary that deepened his shame.
- He discloses he suffered a stroke on May 13, 2022, underwent surgery on primary day, temporarily lost his hearing, and relied first on a whiteboard and later on closed-captioning to communicate.
- He says he set an August 15, 2022, deadline to drop out if he did not improve but remained in the race as his condition and polling did, and he blames debate nerves rather than stroke effects for his poor performance.
- He reports being admitted to Walter Reed on February 15, 2023, diagnosed with severe depression and hospitalized for 44 days, crediting a therapist’s reminder that “Children need their daddy” with helping him reconnect with his family.