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angus_mckeogh's review against another edition
5.0
This three book series about the presidency of Trump was phenomenal. And this final one was on par with the others. Since it was taken from hundreds of interviews from those inside the administration it was a fascinating behind the scenes look. Because every time a politician breathes they simultaneously spew some sort of lie, this series was able to give a different perspective. Lots of this book revolved around Lindsey Graham’s interview (arguably Trump’s closest political friend in his administration) which afforded a unique perspective about the former president. The public really didn’t get any idea about the severity of the instability of our democratic process until the last president did everything in his power to not relinquish the top spot after losing the election. And perhaps you’re one of these people that thinks the “election was stolen”. Again, Graham not only did a personal investigation of his best friend’s claims but repeatedly told the man himself that he found nothing and his claims of fraud were “just not true”; moreover, he told Trump in personal conversations numerous times, “you lost a close race…now let’s move forward and figure out how we can win the next one”. It ultimately comes down to Trump’s refusal to accept that he didn’t win and his belief that “his people expect him to fight and never give up”, even at the detriment of our system of governance and the fact that nearly half of our nation supported an authoritarian regime. It’s just strange, I always believed that’s what Americans shrugged off when they fought to remove themselves from the authoritarian reign of George III. But I suppose that’s the Cult of Personality, and for the most part the people’s willingness to forfeit personal liberties due to fear and tyranny. Maybe just a general stubbornness and refusal to admit when you’re wrong. Whatever. When evaluating history, no government lasts forever, so it remains to be seen whether the government of the United States will outlast my lifetime. Sad but true. If the attempted sedition on January 6th was presaged in history perhaps it’ll be like the unsuccessful 1905 uprising of Lenin in Russia, it was only 12 years later that those individuals rose up again and were this time successful, thus starting the Soviet Union. Remains to be seen. Regardless, another great read, it’d be a shame if anyone were oblivious to the major events of history which are taking place here and now.
yenteb's review against another edition
3.0
While the revelations about Pence were interesting and he was shown to be a much bigger coward than we gave him credit for, I have to admit that am getting a bit of Trump fatigue. Most of the things in the book were already known and honestly the stuff about Biden was pretty boring. Don’t get me wrong I love having a boring president. I just don’t need to read about him.
emmaledbetter's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.0
jjb_1013's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.25
waynediane's review against another edition
4.0
A lot of fill in detail of the last year of Trump's handling or not handling of the Pandemic and Stop the Steal election. Just reinforces through many different sources what was reported. Also, the rise of Joe Biden to becoming elected.
patmcmanamon's review against another edition
3.0
Thee stars does not mean this was not a good book. It is very good. But having watched all the Jan. 6 Commission hearings and kept up on the actions of our former president, at this point in time this book did not break a ton of new ground. It’s fabulously well reported and filled with anecdotes that make you shake your head, but it’s not all that new to those who have kept up to date on what is happening.
coleycole's review against another edition
3.0
It was fine. I was like, why am I rehashing a horrible year ish here? The Biden bits are I think overly rosy and it only deepened my anger at trump. The parts about the decision process in the Biden admin to end the war in Afghanistan were the most interesting/new to me.