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53 reviews for:
This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future
Alexander Burns, Jonathan Martin, Jonathan Martin
3.88 AVERAGE
53 reviews for:
This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future
Alexander Burns, Jonathan Martin, Jonathan Martin
3.88 AVERAGE
Usually, books like this contain lots of gossip and anonymous sources, and this one does as well. Given the significance of the last few elections, I read this one to read what the reporters had to say. Although I knew a lot about Trump, his campaign, and the lead up to January 6, I did not know some of what Republicans said after that attack on the Capitol. Nor did I know everything that led to the selection of Harris for Vice President, and certainly what happened in that instance paved the way for a rocky relationship between Biden and Harris.
Overall, the book provides some additional information about both campaigns and January 6. It lacks some overarching themes, but it's worth reading.
Overall, the book provides some additional information about both campaigns and January 6. It lacks some overarching themes, but it's worth reading.
Another in a series of journalistic accounts of 2020 and 2021, This Will Not Pass received a lot of attention upon its publication for revealing just how craven Kevin McCarthy, the House Minority Leader, is. Otherwise, Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin’s book is a fairly ordinary account of the last months of Donald Trump’s presidency and Joe Biden’s first year. And alas, like many books about the last two years, Burns and Martin fail to make Biden’s legislative travails as compelling as Trump’s near-successful attempt to torch American democracy.
fascinating history of the DJ Trump years. Very well written and far more interesting than I expected. Among other things, it reminded me of many events that I'd forgotten about, and provided very helpful context and detail to those events.
I recently went through "This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for American Democracy" and recommend it. It's an accounting of the end of Trump's presidency and the beginning of Biden's. As you might imagine, the insurrection plays a key role.
I will note that it's not remotely sympathetic to Trump. However, it's impossible for any remotely objective account to do so, and trust me - there isn't one figure in this book that comes out smelling of roses. It tends to be harsh on everyone, both Democrat and Republican.
I like audiobooks because I can listen to them at double speed while getting other things done, but I recommend the audiobook version here for another reason: at the end they include GOP recordings about Jan 6.
It's no surprise that most Republicans were fully, keenly aware that there wasn't a shred of truth to Trump's delusions about election fraud. He just didn't want to accept losing, so he claimed he didn't, even though he had absolutely nothing to stand on.
What did surprise me a little is that some GOP legislators actually seemed to BELIEVE Trump's claims. There was a great deal of disagreement between Republicans based on their degree of disconnection from reality when it came to the election.
What absolutely appalled me is how several Republicans, shortly before January 6th, insisted that their duty to uphold the Constitution... meant they had to scrap the Constitution, destroy democracy and attempt to overthrow the election results. To go counter to the will of the people to put the candidate they wanted in charge - even though that would ruin our democratic process forever. Somehow they managed to make mental convolutions to believe that was actually better serving the spirit of democracy.
I will note that it's not remotely sympathetic to Trump. However, it's impossible for any remotely objective account to do so, and trust me - there isn't one figure in this book that comes out smelling of roses. It tends to be harsh on everyone, both Democrat and Republican.
I like audiobooks because I can listen to them at double speed while getting other things done, but I recommend the audiobook version here for another reason: at the end they include GOP recordings about Jan 6.
It's no surprise that most Republicans were fully, keenly aware that there wasn't a shred of truth to Trump's delusions about election fraud. He just didn't want to accept losing, so he claimed he didn't, even though he had absolutely nothing to stand on.
What did surprise me a little is that some GOP legislators actually seemed to BELIEVE Trump's claims. There was a great deal of disagreement between Republicans based on their degree of disconnection from reality when it came to the election.
What absolutely appalled me is how several Republicans, shortly before January 6th, insisted that their duty to uphold the Constitution... meant they had to scrap the Constitution, destroy democracy and attempt to overthrow the election results. To go counter to the will of the people to put the candidate they wanted in charge - even though that would ruin our democratic process forever. Somehow they managed to make mental convolutions to believe that was actually better serving the spirit of democracy.
The titles seems to be the antonym of the phrase, “This, too, shall pass,” and it’s clear that the situation that our country found itself in after the 2020 election was not one of moving on past the dark years of the Trump administration. Through focused and very readable reporting on various people and storylines from 2020 into late 2021, the authors continually show us how we are not living in a period where we should be recovering and moving on from Trump’s assault on our democracy. The authors’ accounting of the internal battles to pass the infrastructure bill—which I found fascinating in an unexpected way—provided insight into just how broken congressional relations and our country in general have become.
Pretty much the same content as 100 other Trump books. Meh.
Pretty interesting book about the lead-up to the 2020 election, the lead-up to the Insurrection on January 6th, and the first year+ of Biden’s presidency. Lots of background to decisions/actions taken by the political figures at the national level, so I feel I have a fuller understanding of why some things played out as they did. The sheer number of people referenced and cited made for some confusing reading sometimes - which was perhaps made worse by confusing writing and misplaced or missing commas - but overall, a good read.
Definitely not a flattering portrait of Trump or the gutless congresspeople who raged and blamed him for the mob violence on Jan. 6th, but then (when they saw his supporters continue to back him) turned around and groveled for his forgiveness. Mitch and McCarthy, I’m looking at you guys. Kudos to the Cheneys, Romneys, Uptons, and Meijers of the Republican Party.
Definitely not a flattering portrait of Trump or the gutless congresspeople who raged and blamed him for the mob violence on Jan. 6th, but then (when they saw his supporters continue to back him) turned around and groveled for his forgiveness. Mitch and McCarthy, I’m looking at you guys. Kudos to the Cheneys, Romneys, Uptons, and Meijers of the Republican Party.
dark
informative
medium-paced
Don’t try to take this all in in a short amount of time. You won’t be able to put your anger, despondency, frustration and dissatisfaction aside completely. That was my mistake.