Gretchen Whitmer’s memoir is candid. But will she run for president?

If you’re looking to understand the real Whitmer — pioneering executive leader, plain-spoken progressive, Midwestern mother, target of a right-wing assassination plot, co-chair of Biden’s reelection campaign and, perhaps, future presidential hopeful — your best bet is to spend some time as a constituent in her state. If moving to Michigan isn’t feasible, your second-best bet is to read “True Gretch,” a candid, funny and compact collection of Whitmer lore and her advice.

The sixth chapter, titled “Run Toward the Fire,” details the many instances in her career when she has marched into the scariest and most uncertain places, including a harrowing story about racing to the scene of the tragic shooting at Oxford High School in November 2021. Here, and throughout the book, Whitmer balances humility and wisdom. “I have no idea what to say,” she remembers thinking as her SUV sped toward the school. As is her regular practice, she called in counsel, phoning former Connecticut governor Dannel Malloy, who navigated the Sandy Hook tragedy in 2012, to seek his advice.

Throughout the memoir, she asks a lot of questions and does an uncommon amount of active listening — much as she has throughout her various terms as an elected official — and not just to other politicians. (Another chapter is titled “Learn to Listen.”) Why do you feel that way? and Tell me more are her favorite conversation starters with both constituents and adversaries.

She’s also known in our state as unusually dogged. Her first moment in the national spotlight came in December 2013. As a state senator, she spoke on the floor in opposition to a bill requiring a separate insurance rider to cover abortion. A few minutes into her prepared remarks, she set them aside and spontaneously revealed that she had been sexually assaulted as a college student, and she went on to call the bill, which she termed “rape insurance,” one of the most misogynistic legislative proposals she’d ever seen. The bill passed. Nine and half years later, as governor, she signed the historic repeal of Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban, to much fanfare. The following six months brought the Reproductive Health Act — numerous proposals to expand and enshrine women’s health-related rights. On Dec. 11, 2023, 10 years to the day since her emotional speech as a state senator, she signed the bill eliminating rape insurance. “The moral of this story is, don’t stop fighting for what you know is right,” she announced from the podium that day.

It’s rare to hear Whitmer speak, even off the cuff, and feel confused about where she stands or what she plans to do. She won her first statewide campaign on the slogan “Fix the Damn Roads” and raised eyebrows when that four-letter word was displayed on her bus. But in light of that frankness, it’s glaring that she never mentions the presidency, or even hints at her own plans, in “True Gretch.” She could have cleared up all the speculation about a possible presidential campaign if the book had ended with a fervent wish to retire and pursue fly-fishing or watercolor painting when she’s termed out in 2026. She provides no such clue.

Still, there’s something direct enough about the book that it’s hardly necessary for her to utter the P word. Whitmer makes her case in less than 160 pages with almost no highfalutin language. Written with Lisa Dickey, the chapters are short, and for those of us who have watched her for years, it’s largely familiar fare. Her storytelling is relatable and natural. Readers will find a pop music playlist and a recipe for her grandmother’s clover dinner rolls. Whitmer’s distinctive accent echoes across every page.

There are a few surprises. She declares her fondness for her ex-husband, a professional photographer who often covers her campaign events and takes family portraits of Whitmer, her husband, Marc Mallory, and their children. Whitmer also proclaims herself “weird” and says she is unfortunately compelled to behave (relatively) normally during her work life as governor. “When I get home, I set the weirdness free,” she writes. She owns a cardboard cutout of herself from a recent campaign and hides it in closets in the house to “scare the crap out of visitors.”

In “True Gretch,” we meet one of the few politicians who might be equipped, and possibly even willing, to tackle what’s ahead. The book is welcome reassurance that someone might be courageous and capable enough to run toward the fire that’s making kindling of our democracy. “We must never be afraid to show up,” she writes in her characteristically aphoristic style. “You’re not going to get everything right immediately, but you’ve got to get in there and try.”

Amanda Uhle is the author of the forthcoming memoir “Destroy This House” and the publisher and executive director of McSweeney’s.

What I’ve Learned About Life, Leadership, and Everything in Between

By Gretchen Whitmer with Lisa Dickey

Simon & Schuster. 159 pp. $26.99