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The Truce: Progressives, Centrists, and the Future of the Democratic Party
An inside story of the Democratic Party at a moment of great peril.
Even before the cataclysmic 2016 election, the Democratic Party had long been at war with itself—yet Joe Biden’s narrow victory in 2020 bridged the divide. Facing the dire threat of a second Trump administration, Democrats forged an unlikely but effective coalition that stalled Trumpism at the ballot box and enacted a raft of consequential legislation. But how long can the uneasy peace hold, and can Biden win again?
The Truce is a definitive history of a half-decade of upheaval in the Democratic Party in which a new generation aggressively pursued their progressive ideals while the powerful, centrist establishment adapted to remain in command. Journalists Hunter Walker and Luppe B. Luppen illuminate this story of backroom maneuvering and political strategy with new revelations about pivotal events and exclusive, on-the-record comments from activists, campaign operatives, and members of Congress.
The Truce explores the major fault lines that define Democratic politics today and asks big questions about the future of the party. Will economic or social justice hold primacy at the top of the Democratic agenda? Who will lead the major wings of the party after two defining figures, Biden and Sanders, exit the stage? The Truce surveys the major shifts underway, from the rise of the Squad and new Democratic leadership in the House to a complete overhaul of the primary process. By digging into the divide between left and center, Walker and Luppen expose the creeping generational and political tensions that Biden has—for the moment—kept at bay.
An engrossing work, and a surprising page-turner, The Truce grapples with the dangers that threaten American democracy and the complicated cast of characters who are trying to save it.
Even before the cataclysmic 2016 election, the Democratic Party had long been at war with itself—yet Joe Biden’s narrow victory in 2020 bridged the divide. Facing the dire threat of a second Trump administration, Democrats forged an unlikely but effective coalition that stalled Trumpism at the ballot box and enacted a raft of consequential legislation. But how long can the uneasy peace hold, and can Biden win again?
The Truce is a definitive history of a half-decade of upheaval in the Democratic Party in which a new generation aggressively pursued their progressive ideals while the powerful, centrist establishment adapted to remain in command. Journalists Hunter Walker and Luppe B. Luppen illuminate this story of backroom maneuvering and political strategy with new revelations about pivotal events and exclusive, on-the-record comments from activists, campaign operatives, and members of Congress.
The Truce explores the major fault lines that define Democratic politics today and asks big questions about the future of the party. Will economic or social justice hold primacy at the top of the Democratic agenda? Who will lead the major wings of the party after two defining figures, Biden and Sanders, exit the stage? The Truce surveys the major shifts underway, from the rise of the Squad and new Democratic leadership in the House to a complete overhaul of the primary process. By digging into the divide between left and center, Walker and Luppen expose the creeping generational and political tensions that Biden has—for the moment—kept at bay.
An engrossing work, and a surprising page-turner, The Truce grapples with the dangers that threaten American democracy and the complicated cast of characters who are trying to save it.
- GenresPoliticsNonfiction
308 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 23, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 27, 2024
The Truce is a brief and selective history of the Democratic Party from 2015 to the present. The truce refers to is an implicit understanding between the centrist and the progressive wings of the party that they are each better off working together than letting disagreements fracture the party. By using the analogy of a truce, the authors acknowledge that this understanding may not last and the future is yet to be determined.
I found the book a rather quick and compelling read. For someone who follows the U.S political scene by reading the daily news, The Truce might at first seem a rehash of events about which the reader is already familiar. But it becomes apparent quickly that the stories are told in greater depth thanks to the original reporting and interviews conducted by the authors. Interesting sketch portraits of Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, the Squad, Pramila Jayapal, and others, emerge from these stories. The book also covers relevant institutional structures such as the reporting failures from the 2020 Iowa caucuses, the challenge of legislation around the existence of the filibuster, redistricting, and the changes to the Democratic primary calendar for 2024 and beyond.
For those who follow politics at the surface but would like a somewhat deeper dive without getting too mired in minutiae, I recommend this book. Its assessment of where things stand in late 2023/early 2024 will provide a useful frame of reference for the election campaigns in 2024 and beyond.
I found the book a rather quick and compelling read. For someone who follows the U.S political scene by reading the daily news, The Truce might at first seem a rehash of events about which the reader is already familiar. But it becomes apparent quickly that the stories are told in greater depth thanks to the original reporting and interviews conducted by the authors. Interesting sketch portraits of Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, the Squad, Pramila Jayapal, and others, emerge from these stories. The book also covers relevant institutional structures such as the reporting failures from the 2020 Iowa caucuses, the challenge of legislation around the existence of the filibuster, redistricting, and the changes to the Democratic primary calendar for 2024 and beyond.
For those who follow politics at the surface but would like a somewhat deeper dive without getting too mired in minutiae, I recommend this book. Its assessment of where things stand in late 2023/early 2024 will provide a useful frame of reference for the election campaigns in 2024 and beyond.
October 24, 2026
This book was written by authors extremely sympathetic to the democratic party. This was very clear in the tone and substance of their writing. The authors also have a strong progressive journalistic history. Walker hunter has previously written for the left leaning Atlantic. Luppen has worked for the left leaning Washington post. Thus, when these authors give very unflattering assessments of the democratic party, one has good reason to listen carefully. For me, this the book’s primary benefit.
The basic thesis of this book, released in 2024, is that there is a growing split in the Democratic Party (DP) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) along progressive liberal and traditional centrist lines. Joe Biden’s narrow victory in 2020 gave us a president who worked hard to appease the progressive socialist left. Furthermore, the very real possibility of a future Trump presidency drove both the progressives and the centrists to call for a truce in preparation for the 2024 presidential election (thus the title of the book). After this book was published in March of 2024 we had an election that gave us a Trump presidency. The truce is now over. We now see a DNC again at war with itself, with the progressive, socialistic left in clear ascendency. This book helps to trace the political roots of that civil war.
The book almost seems to anticipate the 2026 world we now live in. Most of the ink in this book is spent tracing the history and interactions of the key players on the progressive socialist left. The book gives a series of quite helpful and quite plausibly honest vignettes of Obama, the Clintons, the Justice Democrats, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, the “squad,” Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. Those vignettes center on the relationships, political posturing and political power struggles between themselves and centrist democrats. Political drama takes center stage throughout the book. This book focuses on raw power dynamics, to the exclusion of expositing their beliefs beyond mere sloganeering. From the material presented one can easily conclude that progressives spend little time deeply researching and considering their views. The focus is on action and seizing power rather than on serious intellectual reflection. One liners, such as “free healthcare for all” or “tax the rich” substitute for serious deep thought. Even worse, the progressive socialist left often fails to articulate their positions coherently. They also do not understand the real roots of their electoral successes, which are often rooted in economics rather than the socialist ideology This does help to explain how a bar tender, with no serious education or experience with data driven public policy, can rise to be a united states representative.
Most telling was the author’s assessment of Kamala Harris. Beginning on page 89, the authors write: “While Harris’s campaign was unquestionionably successful in the sense that it elevated her to the second-highest office in the land, those closest to it were left with deep-seated doubts about her ability to lead. As Democrats fretted over whether Harris could serve as a successful successor to Biden, some of the staffers who had worked most closely with her were the most afraid. “It was rotten from the start” one top ais on the 2020 campaign said, “A lot of us, at least folks that I was friends with on the campaign, all realized that: “This, person should not be president of the United States.” .” On page 70 of the book the authors offer a quote that is even more blunt. “Kamala is not ready for prime time,” one senior White House staffer said, adding “She ain’t made for this.” The reader should keep these comments in mind when recalling the unflinching democratic party support Harris was given during the 2024 election cycle.
Consider the trajectory of progressivism since the book’s release in 2024. As of 2026 many DP/DNC candidates are now openly and proudly promoting socialism. The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are clearly on the rise in the DNC/DP. This book cements the notion that progressivism is just early-stage socialism. The socialism promoted is not just better government. Rather, they want to tear down the present system and replace it with true confiscatory redistributionist socialism. They seem to be totally unaware of socialism’s history. Socialism has now been tried many times in many countries only to result in breadlines, authoritarianism and human misery. This writer was a student in the People’s Republic of China in the 1980’s as China was coming out of the cultural revolution. China (like Russia) has a long socialist history. Theoretically, socialism does sound interesting, but I saw the effects up close and personal. I saw the tragedy and the hopelessness of socialism lived in practice. In the case of China, success was only possible when they began distancing themselves from socialism. Tragically, China in recent years has been moving back to a socialist authoritarian model. This book helps one understand how the stage was set for the democratic party’s present dystopian vision of the future.
In addition to historical blindness, book gives no evidence indicating that the progressive socialist left has any understanding or regard for data driven economics and public policy. The historically documented reality is that capitalism has raised more people out of poverty than any other system ever tried by humanity. Let us all pray that the future they want us to live in never comes to pass.
When I finished this book I found myself pondering one basic question. When you try to go beyond the sloganeering, the political posturing, the pursuit of power and party infighting, you are left with one basic question. What does the democratic party really truly stand for? Sadly, this book does little to answer this question. Perhaps the failure to answer this question is the answer to this question.
The basic thesis of this book, released in 2024, is that there is a growing split in the Democratic Party (DP) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) along progressive liberal and traditional centrist lines. Joe Biden’s narrow victory in 2020 gave us a president who worked hard to appease the progressive socialist left. Furthermore, the very real possibility of a future Trump presidency drove both the progressives and the centrists to call for a truce in preparation for the 2024 presidential election (thus the title of the book). After this book was published in March of 2024 we had an election that gave us a Trump presidency. The truce is now over. We now see a DNC again at war with itself, with the progressive, socialistic left in clear ascendency. This book helps to trace the political roots of that civil war.
The book almost seems to anticipate the 2026 world we now live in. Most of the ink in this book is spent tracing the history and interactions of the key players on the progressive socialist left. The book gives a series of quite helpful and quite plausibly honest vignettes of Obama, the Clintons, the Justice Democrats, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, the “squad,” Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. Those vignettes center on the relationships, political posturing and political power struggles between themselves and centrist democrats. Political drama takes center stage throughout the book. This book focuses on raw power dynamics, to the exclusion of expositing their beliefs beyond mere sloganeering. From the material presented one can easily conclude that progressives spend little time deeply researching and considering their views. The focus is on action and seizing power rather than on serious intellectual reflection. One liners, such as “free healthcare for all” or “tax the rich” substitute for serious deep thought. Even worse, the progressive socialist left often fails to articulate their positions coherently. They also do not understand the real roots of their electoral successes, which are often rooted in economics rather than the socialist ideology This does help to explain how a bar tender, with no serious education or experience with data driven public policy, can rise to be a united states representative.
Most telling was the author’s assessment of Kamala Harris. Beginning on page 89, the authors write: “While Harris’s campaign was unquestionionably successful in the sense that it elevated her to the second-highest office in the land, those closest to it were left with deep-seated doubts about her ability to lead. As Democrats fretted over whether Harris could serve as a successful successor to Biden, some of the staffers who had worked most closely with her were the most afraid. “It was rotten from the start” one top ais on the 2020 campaign said, “A lot of us, at least folks that I was friends with on the campaign, all realized that: “This, person should not be president of the United States.” .” On page 70 of the book the authors offer a quote that is even more blunt. “Kamala is not ready for prime time,” one senior White House staffer said, adding “She ain’t made for this.” The reader should keep these comments in mind when recalling the unflinching democratic party support Harris was given during the 2024 election cycle.
Consider the trajectory of progressivism since the book’s release in 2024. As of 2026 many DP/DNC candidates are now openly and proudly promoting socialism. The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are clearly on the rise in the DNC/DP. This book cements the notion that progressivism is just early-stage socialism. The socialism promoted is not just better government. Rather, they want to tear down the present system and replace it with true confiscatory redistributionist socialism. They seem to be totally unaware of socialism’s history. Socialism has now been tried many times in many countries only to result in breadlines, authoritarianism and human misery. This writer was a student in the People’s Republic of China in the 1980’s as China was coming out of the cultural revolution. China (like Russia) has a long socialist history. Theoretically, socialism does sound interesting, but I saw the effects up close and personal. I saw the tragedy and the hopelessness of socialism lived in practice. In the case of China, success was only possible when they began distancing themselves from socialism. Tragically, China in recent years has been moving back to a socialist authoritarian model. This book helps one understand how the stage was set for the democratic party’s present dystopian vision of the future.
In addition to historical blindness, book gives no evidence indicating that the progressive socialist left has any understanding or regard for data driven economics and public policy. The historically documented reality is that capitalism has raised more people out of poverty than any other system ever tried by humanity. Let us all pray that the future they want us to live in never comes to pass.
When I finished this book I found myself pondering one basic question. When you try to go beyond the sloganeering, the political posturing, the pursuit of power and party infighting, you are left with one basic question. What does the democratic party really truly stand for? Sadly, this book does little to answer this question. Perhaps the failure to answer this question is the answer to this question.
February 24, 2024
I'm left not knowing what the truce is, Biden being a nice guy?
Why pick Harris if, as administration insiders say, she didn't have the juice? If Biden just wanted somebody who wouldn't be a primary rival, pick a young progressive instead of a cop.
If there's a truce, why did obama not suggest warren should drop out and unify with biden, the way he told other candidates? And why did Obama want bernie people to be involved in task forces instead of cabinet positions or as VP?
Subtitle of Truce is "progressives, centrists, and the future of the democratic party". But the story is of progressives being friendly with biden, while right wing blue dogs and problem solvers caucus etc get their way. The book likes to use the title "radical centrist" but that doesn't mean anything, why not admit conservatives and reactionaries control the party.
And how friendly is Biden anyway? On pp220-21, Biden explicitly makes an agreement with Cuomo for Cuomo to stay out of the presidential race in order for one of them (Biden) to defeat the left.
Why pick Harris if, as administration insiders say, she didn't have the juice? If Biden just wanted somebody who wouldn't be a primary rival, pick a young progressive instead of a cop.
If there's a truce, why did obama not suggest warren should drop out and unify with biden, the way he told other candidates? And why did Obama want bernie people to be involved in task forces instead of cabinet positions or as VP?
Subtitle of Truce is "progressives, centrists, and the future of the democratic party". But the story is of progressives being friendly with biden, while right wing blue dogs and problem solvers caucus etc get their way. The book likes to use the title "radical centrist" but that doesn't mean anything, why not admit conservatives and reactionaries control the party.
And how friendly is Biden anyway? On pp220-21, Biden explicitly makes an agreement with Cuomo for Cuomo to stay out of the presidential race in order for one of them (Biden) to defeat the left.
October 17, 2025
Reading "The Truce" in 2025, the outcome of the 2024 election is simultaneously old news and daily outrages. So I wanted to understand why the Democratic Party has continued to fail in the 21st century, and what can turn this around.
I have no love of Bernie Sanders and how he has played Democrat when it suited him. But "The Truce" helped me understand the value of how other progressives have chipped away at much-needed changes to the party.
This book overall demonstrates consistently excellent research and reporting. Even though I already knew a lot about what happened, I was fascinated by the behind-the-scenes details and candid interviews. And I learned a lot.
Will the Truce hold? I think it will, especially as both centrists and progressives join together on fundamental democratic rights. "...Building political momentum is not a matter of adopting broadly popular positions, or being personally popular, but of sticking with what you believe in and pushing the whole debate in the right direction."
I have no love of Bernie Sanders and how he has played Democrat when it suited him. But "The Truce" helped me understand the value of how other progressives have chipped away at much-needed changes to the party.
This book overall demonstrates consistently excellent research and reporting. Even though I already knew a lot about what happened, I was fascinated by the behind-the-scenes details and candid interviews. And I learned a lot.
Will the Truce hold? I think it will, especially as both centrists and progressives join together on fundamental democratic rights. "...Building political momentum is not a matter of adopting broadly popular positions, or being personally popular, but of sticking with what you believe in and pushing the whole debate in the right direction."
February 1, 2026
I thought this was a good overview of the journey of the Democratic party that had led us to present day. I appreciated all the first hand accounts from their interviews with various staff to the politicians themselves.
What I thought was lacking was the "future" part of the book's title. The last two chapters of the book didn't really outline predictions of the future based on everything from the Democratic party's past that the earlier chapters of the book covered. The main takeaways for the future were 1) to shift the party's focus to the working class as the party currently caters to the wealthy & is viewed as elitist, and 2) Do more grass roots building 365 days a year, every year, regardless if it's an election year. As this is why the support for the Republican party grew so much between 2020-24.
I was expecting more from the "future" part, such as actionable steps versus just an overview of the two main takeaways.
What I thought was lacking was the "future" part of the book's title. The last two chapters of the book didn't really outline predictions of the future based on everything from the Democratic party's past that the earlier chapters of the book covered. The main takeaways for the future were 1) to shift the party's focus to the working class as the party currently caters to the wealthy & is viewed as elitist, and 2) Do more grass roots building 365 days a year, every year, regardless if it's an election year. As this is why the support for the Republican party grew so much between 2020-24.
I was expecting more from the "future" part, such as actionable steps versus just an overview of the two main takeaways.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 23, 2024
With the next general election on the horizon, I gave this entertaining book a read. I am someone who cares deeply about current events, but political theatrics and inauthenticity gives me headaches. This book gave me enough political theater to understand the current political landscape without getting too far into the back-and-forth nonsense. The overviews of various current events gave me some feels throughout as I read about the actions leaders I believe in took to address important causes in the face of political gridlock and party politics. The book summarizes and analyzes the evolution of the Democratic Party over the last ten years, contextualizing where the party is today. I learned a lot, laughed at the political drama, and came away with a bit more skepticism and a bit more hope. Writing this in May 2024, I can’t help but wonder how this book will age.
March 6, 2024
Immensely insightful and riveting stories and analysis of the various factions of the Democratic party. As a person who lives far outside the Beltway, I found this book to be detailed, fact-based, well-written, and helpful in understanding all the inflection points that got the party where it is today. It's an excellent primer as we approach the 2024 election.
April 1, 2024
Clear and informative look at the intra-party dynamics for Dems from like 2016-23. The focus was on the gains made by the more progressive wing of the party and the ways in which that wing forged common cause with President Biden. Definitely very inside baseball but I found it interesting.
April 26, 2024
Good overview of the way that Biden worked with the various factions of the democratic party leading up to and through his presidency as well as info on the progressive movement post-2016. Easy to read and great scene setting/ storytelling for a book focused on politics.
February 2, 2024
Too much politics for me.
Did not finish.
Thanks to Goodreads and the authors for my copy.
Did not finish.
Thanks to Goodreads and the authors for my copy.
April 5, 2024
The truce
Interesting read if you want to understand what's going on in Democratic party and how they got organized. Was curious so this was interesting
Interesting read if you want to understand what's going on in Democratic party and how they got organized. Was curious so this was interesting
Read
October 4, 2024Helpful reporting, interesting read, but oh dear the Harris stuff 😬
🤞 - 10/4/24
🤞 - 10/4/24
March 24, 2024
This is a very good history of the machinations in the Democratic party between 2008 and today. If you have followed this stuff, a lot of it will be old news. But there is a lot of what actually went on behind the scenes that makes it a worthwhile read.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews