... [an] important new book ... Wittes and Hennessey...treat us to a wide-ranging and fascinating collection of contextual history. Each chapter is a smorgasbord ... historical support for the book’s conclusions makes for an entertaining and enlightening read. There are many good tidbits ... In an important way, this book is not only historical analysis but also an erudite, though not especially legal, brief advocating against a second Trump term. It is a worthy read from two fine and relevant minds.
Far more than a simple recounting of Trumpian outrages, however, the authors present a sobering case for how the current president is altering the fabric of the office itself, possibly for keeps ... The authors deliberate this question in engrossing detail, with each chapter illuminating the historical, legal, political, and cultural aspects of a presidential norm into which this commander-in-chief has thrown a hand grenade.
... isn’t just another compendium of insider gossip and bumbling treachery. The authors offer something more sobering, more analytical and, at this point, more revealing ... The book isn’t the work of bleeding-heart insurgents; the authors are national security pundits, and Wittes is famously a friend and confidant to the former F.B.I. director James Comey ... the authors are earnest and methodical — and the case they make is scarier for it .
For the millions of Americans who feel the very idea of a traditional presidency slipping from their grasp, you are not wrong—and this incisive and insightful book explains the why, the how, and, of course, the who ... This clear-eyed and highly readable account shows exactly how we got where we are, in both the short and long term.
This book was completed before the impeachment probe in October 2019 so parts feel outdated. However, serious political readers and presidential studies scholars will derive much from this cogent appraisal.
The authors effectively tap a wealth of material, including administration leaks, comments from ex-staffers, and Trump’s own words. They argue convincingly that Trump’s fracturing of the executive branch necessitates control mechanisms that continue to erode ... An incisive, frightening picture of a toxic environment in which 'the presidency…needs a champion.'
... a penetrating partisan analysis of President Trump’s first term in office ... The book’s wealth of factoids and keen insights into Trump’s character provide much food for thought. Liberals and independent-minded readers of presidential histories will savor this thorough, lucidly written account.
