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Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other
Conrad Black, bestselling author of Franklin Delano Champion of Freedom and Richard M. A Life in Full , turns his attention to his "friend" President Donald J. Trump and provides the most intriguing and significant analysis yet of Trump's political rise. Ambitious in intellectual scope, contrarian in many of its opinions, and admirably concise, this is surely set to be one of the most provocative political books you are likely to read this year.
234 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 14, 2018
202 people are currently reading
421 people want to read
About the author
Conrad Black
47 books79 followersConrad Black is a Canadian-born British peer, and former publisher of the London Daily Telegraph, The Spectator, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Jerusalem Post, and founder of Canada's National Post.
He is a columnist and regular contributor to several publications, including National Review Online, The New Criterion, The National Interest, American Greatness, the New York Sun, and the National Post.
As an acclaimed author and biographer, Lord Black has published comprehensive histories of both Canada and the United States, as well as authoritative biographies of Maurice Duplessis, and presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump.
Lord Black is also a television and radio commentator and a sporadic participant in the current affairs programming of CNN, Fox News, CTV, CBC, BBC, and Radio Canada.
He is a columnist and regular contributor to several publications, including National Review Online, The New Criterion, The National Interest, American Greatness, the New York Sun, and the National Post.
As an acclaimed author and biographer, Lord Black has published comprehensive histories of both Canada and the United States, as well as authoritative biographies of Maurice Duplessis, and presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump.
Lord Black is also a television and radio commentator and a sporadic participant in the current affairs programming of CNN, Fox News, CTV, CBC, BBC, and Radio Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
December 31, 2018
The first paragraph in the book sets the tone of what is to come:
The traits that elevated Donald Trump to the White House are the traits of America. It was not a country of a culture and language of its own; but a land of dreams and discovery, of aspiration and mystery, with its carefully devised mythos of freedom and opportunity. The legend was the future and not the past. America’s rise to greatness has been a mélange of toil, fortune, and heroism, but with a touch of the gimcrack and of the illusory: where dream and sham sometimes conjoin. Many great American personalities combined these elements to some degree in their own personalities. Jefferson was partially a poseur; Hamilton an impetuous adventurer; Aaron Burr a scoundrel; Fremont, MacArthur, Halsey, and Patton were swashbuckling egotists and to a degree myth-makers. FDR was in part a political trickster of extraordinary virtuosity. The Kennedys, LBJ, Nixon, Reagan (a genuine man but full of Hollywood tinsel too), even the Clintons, and Donald Trump all have admirable qualities and have rendered great service, but none has been an altogether straight arrow. Many of the most hallowed events in American history were neither inevitable nor as nobly intended as they have been presented. It has rarely been George Washington and the cherry tree or Honest Abe splitting rails, and if it goes wrong, as with Aaron Burr, or Nixon in his second term, it can go badly wrong.
Like the country he represents, Donald Trump possesses the optimism to persevere and succeed, the confidence to affront tradition and convention, a genius for spectacle, and a firm belief in common sense and the common man.
This blue-collar billionaire took on everyone and everything: An increasing number of Americans in the last century worked hard, and even harder but earned less. Their lives were not improving. The buying power of their pay did not increase. They were both frightened an angry at the same time.
He held 5 consecutive terms of government responsible for collective, congestive, self-aggregating failure in almost every relevant field.
Trump is an extraordinarily controversial figure. He has, in effect, as a citizen, declared war on the entire political class. He attacked all factions of both parties, the Hollywood role, Wall street role, the lobbyists, special interests, campaign financing techniques, the national political media - all members of a swamp, all rotten, all failed. He attacked the Bushes as much as he attacked Obama and the Clintons.
Obama came onto the scene, after the biggest recession in 80 years, and in 8 years increased the national debt by 125% - the biggest increase by far in 230 years of independence. George W Bush plunged into war almost helter skelter, and in an almost childish naivety, Obama acted passive, even funding ISIS in trying to make friends with America's enemies. Obama paid Iran to stop their nuclear program. They took the money and financed Hezbollah and Isis, and expanded their nuclear program. Clinton paid North Korea a couple of billion dollars to stop its nuclear power. They took the money and build more of the same.
This is not an ode to the greatest president who ever lived, as might be suspected by Trump's enemies. And Donald Trump does not walk away from this book being God's gift to America either. Conrad Brand takes the reader through a man's life - the ups and downs, the good, bad and the ugly, and explains why this imperfect man can do what he does, and why.
There is NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING, that president Donald Trump can do that can even come close to provoking the kind of disgust and moral outrage that tens of millions of people felt/feel towards the Washington establishment. What he did, with meticulous planning, was to slowly build a persona and a support base, over many years, that went behind celebrity and business; he was building trust among middle America. In an interview in 1988 on Oprah's program, he said the exact same things that he is saying now. The book describes a man's journey through well-planned actions, spanning many years, to reach his destination.
Trump's garishness and gaucherie often blinds his critics to his talents, which are as manifold as his offenses are to their sensibilities.
...they eagerly anticipated Trump becoming a casualty of his allegedly self-destructive exploding ego.
...toxic demagogue;
...a racist;
...a sexist;
...inciter of violence;
...a crooked businessman;
...totally unstatesmanlike;
...an ignoramus;
...a disruptive interloper in the inexorable progress of liberal Democratic America;
...a mendacious hypocrite;
...a credulous reader of shabby tabloid media(he was also an omnivorous reader of newspapers);
...addicted to controversy, showmanship, and hucksterism.
...He would be the most reckless president in American history...would weaken the United States' moral authority";
...much of the public considered Trump's unorthodox behavior a welcome antidote to the pomposity, platitudes, and absurd self-importance of the other candidates.
And, as 'they' say....the rest is history.
Conrad Black chronologically tells the tale of the Trump movement, which was in reality an American revolt, with an unusual leader to drive it, in a well-researched, unbiased, straightforward way. I found his approach refreshing. While the Trump-haters attacked him as a person, they totally missed the real issues that brought this man to power.
As the author stated in the first paragraph, this is the story of America.
RECOMMENDED, if you dare.
The traits that elevated Donald Trump to the White House are the traits of America. It was not a country of a culture and language of its own; but a land of dreams and discovery, of aspiration and mystery, with its carefully devised mythos of freedom and opportunity. The legend was the future and not the past. America’s rise to greatness has been a mélange of toil, fortune, and heroism, but with a touch of the gimcrack and of the illusory: where dream and sham sometimes conjoin. Many great American personalities combined these elements to some degree in their own personalities. Jefferson was partially a poseur; Hamilton an impetuous adventurer; Aaron Burr a scoundrel; Fremont, MacArthur, Halsey, and Patton were swashbuckling egotists and to a degree myth-makers. FDR was in part a political trickster of extraordinary virtuosity. The Kennedys, LBJ, Nixon, Reagan (a genuine man but full of Hollywood tinsel too), even the Clintons, and Donald Trump all have admirable qualities and have rendered great service, but none has been an altogether straight arrow. Many of the most hallowed events in American history were neither inevitable nor as nobly intended as they have been presented. It has rarely been George Washington and the cherry tree or Honest Abe splitting rails, and if it goes wrong, as with Aaron Burr, or Nixon in his second term, it can go badly wrong.
Like the country he represents, Donald Trump possesses the optimism to persevere and succeed, the confidence to affront tradition and convention, a genius for spectacle, and a firm belief in common sense and the common man.
This blue-collar billionaire took on everyone and everything: An increasing number of Americans in the last century worked hard, and even harder but earned less. Their lives were not improving. The buying power of their pay did not increase. They were both frightened an angry at the same time.
He held 5 consecutive terms of government responsible for collective, congestive, self-aggregating failure in almost every relevant field.
Trump is an extraordinarily controversial figure. He has, in effect, as a citizen, declared war on the entire political class. He attacked all factions of both parties, the Hollywood role, Wall street role, the lobbyists, special interests, campaign financing techniques, the national political media - all members of a swamp, all rotten, all failed. He attacked the Bushes as much as he attacked Obama and the Clintons.
Obama came onto the scene, after the biggest recession in 80 years, and in 8 years increased the national debt by 125% - the biggest increase by far in 230 years of independence. George W Bush plunged into war almost helter skelter, and in an almost childish naivety, Obama acted passive, even funding ISIS in trying to make friends with America's enemies. Obama paid Iran to stop their nuclear program. They took the money and financed Hezbollah and Isis, and expanded their nuclear program. Clinton paid North Korea a couple of billion dollars to stop its nuclear power. They took the money and build more of the same.
This is not an ode to the greatest president who ever lived, as might be suspected by Trump's enemies. And Donald Trump does not walk away from this book being God's gift to America either. Conrad Brand takes the reader through a man's life - the ups and downs, the good, bad and the ugly, and explains why this imperfect man can do what he does, and why.
There is NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING, that president Donald Trump can do that can even come close to provoking the kind of disgust and moral outrage that tens of millions of people felt/feel towards the Washington establishment. What he did, with meticulous planning, was to slowly build a persona and a support base, over many years, that went behind celebrity and business; he was building trust among middle America. In an interview in 1988 on Oprah's program, he said the exact same things that he is saying now. The book describes a man's journey through well-planned actions, spanning many years, to reach his destination.
Trump's garishness and gaucherie often blinds his critics to his talents, which are as manifold as his offenses are to their sensibilities.
Objectively, the twenty years from 1996 to 2016 gave the country the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and with the exception of the Great Depression, the worst since the 1870s; as well the worst peacetime public sector debt accumulation in American history with only 1 percent per capita GDP growth to show for it.Trump brought "The Silent Majority" back.
More than a trillion dollars had been squandered in Iraq, to hand three-fifths of it over to Iranian influence and reduce the rest to violent civil and sectarian war. An oceanic flood of desperate refugees was loosed upon the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe, as the United States itself continued to admit unassimilated masses of illiterate Latin American peasants as undocumented migrants. Gross Domestic Product per capita growth declined from 4.5 percent in the last six Reagan years to 3.9 percent in the Clinton years, to 2 percent under George W. Bush and 1 percent under Obama. In Obama’s eight years, food stamp use and the percentage in defined conditions of poverty sharply increased. The work force shrank by more than ten million people, though the population grew; and twenty-three million single Americans between the ages of thirty-five and fifty-four, the prime of a person’s working life, were completely idle. A great many of them were sustained on immobilizing anti-depressants supplied by expanded Medicaid access.
...
Trump was in all respects a unique candidate, and had a unique political positioning—the appeal of which his critics didn’t understand. Only one person, Donald Trump, came forward to challenge the whole political establishment—to call the Bushes incompetent, the Clintons dishonest, Obama a failure, the press toadies, the pollsters flacks and lackeys, much of the financial community greedy hypocrites, and Congress a bipartisan group of self-serving and inept insiders who were just gaming the system for their own incumbencies and the devil take the country and its voters.
The level of outrage of much of the public for the wars, recession, debt, violent crime, foreign policy blunders, illegal immigration, and economic stagnation had still not registered with the complacent media. Trump’s support level, as the only candidate in either party not steeped to the eyeballs in the failures of the last twenty years, had not yet been noticed by the somnambulant, flaccid media and political establishment. The Trump aberration rumbled on, gathering strength like a tornado.The Anti-Trumpers and never-Trumpers missed the anxiety, anger, fear and destitute of the ordinary American, and banded together to prevent the Grand Old Party from falling into the hands of the great vulgar philistine roughneck, and ogre, whose candidacy was greeted with howls of glee, mockery, and execration announcing a summer festival of fun and farce...
...they eagerly anticipated Trump becoming a casualty of his allegedly self-destructive exploding ego.
...toxic demagogue;
...a racist;
...a sexist;
...inciter of violence;
...a crooked businessman;
...totally unstatesmanlike;
...an ignoramus;
...a disruptive interloper in the inexorable progress of liberal Democratic America;
...a mendacious hypocrite;
...a credulous reader of shabby tabloid media(he was also an omnivorous reader of newspapers);
...addicted to controversy, showmanship, and hucksterism.
...He would be the most reckless president in American history...would weaken the United States' moral authority";
...much of the public considered Trump's unorthodox behavior a welcome antidote to the pomposity, platitudes, and absurd self-importance of the other candidates.
And, as 'they' say....the rest is history.
Conrad Black chronologically tells the tale of the Trump movement, which was in reality an American revolt, with an unusual leader to drive it, in a well-researched, unbiased, straightforward way. I found his approach refreshing. While the Trump-haters attacked him as a person, they totally missed the real issues that brought this man to power.
As the author stated in the first paragraph, this is the story of America.
RECOMMENDED, if you dare.
May 16, 2018
I read this in a day and a half, which is quite different from Black's other voluminous and wordy books which would take weeks. Black takes a look at the Donald Trump he knows from business dealings and as a friend and tries to present a counterpoint to what he feels is an unfair and even dishonest media portrayal of Trump.
Black begins with a short biography (my eyes started glazing over as he outlined details of various financial acquisitions). He then traces Trump's interest in politics going back two decades, and spends the last half of the book in a chronological recounting of the 2016 election, of Trump's achievements as president and of the various ways his "enemies" and the media have tried to sidetrack his presidency.
Black doesn't hide Trump's flaws and admits that Trump will sometimes bring trouble upon himself. Black also, I feel, gives Trump a bit too much of a pass when it comes to some of his moral and ethical failings. But the strength of this book is in bringing to the fore Trump's many accomplishments as president, in examining the deep dissatisfaction that caused a great part of the American electorate to turn to Trump, and in examining the hypocrisy, the unfair coverage and even downright lies of the media (even Jimmy Carter is quoted as feeling the media coverage of Trump is unfair.) Black points out the many tempests in a teapot that the Democrats and media have brought forward concerning Trump that were portrayed as the beginning of the end, yet ended up fading into nothing after a couple of weeks.
Black puts forward Trump as a unique president in that he had no political or military service before winning the White House, the only such president. He opines that he is a president of his times and for his times, and that while he has his foibles and shortcomings, he has proven to be a successful president thus far.
Black's recent career as a biographer of American presidents along with his history in business and the media give him a unique perspective on the Trump presidency. Some may say his recent time in jail would make him less than trustworthy. My feeling is that this book provides a needed counterpoint to the overwhelming negative and partisan assessments we see in the media.
Black begins with a short biography (my eyes started glazing over as he outlined details of various financial acquisitions). He then traces Trump's interest in politics going back two decades, and spends the last half of the book in a chronological recounting of the 2016 election, of Trump's achievements as president and of the various ways his "enemies" and the media have tried to sidetrack his presidency.
Black doesn't hide Trump's flaws and admits that Trump will sometimes bring trouble upon himself. Black also, I feel, gives Trump a bit too much of a pass when it comes to some of his moral and ethical failings. But the strength of this book is in bringing to the fore Trump's many accomplishments as president, in examining the deep dissatisfaction that caused a great part of the American electorate to turn to Trump, and in examining the hypocrisy, the unfair coverage and even downright lies of the media (even Jimmy Carter is quoted as feeling the media coverage of Trump is unfair.) Black points out the many tempests in a teapot that the Democrats and media have brought forward concerning Trump that were portrayed as the beginning of the end, yet ended up fading into nothing after a couple of weeks.
Black puts forward Trump as a unique president in that he had no political or military service before winning the White House, the only such president. He opines that he is a president of his times and for his times, and that while he has his foibles and shortcomings, he has proven to be a successful president thus far.
Black's recent career as a biographer of American presidents along with his history in business and the media give him a unique perspective on the Trump presidency. Some may say his recent time in jail would make him less than trustworthy. My feeling is that this book provides a needed counterpoint to the overwhelming negative and partisan assessments we see in the media.
August 25, 2018
Donald Trump first came into my consciousness in 1986 when he offered to rebuild the Wollman Ice Rink in Central Park. It had been idle for three years and was $7 million over budget. He offered to get it functioning in four months at cost. Mayor Koch accepted the offer and Trump delivered the rink two months early and $750,000 under budget. This guy is effective, I thought, but not being a fan of beauty pageants, wrestling, or TV, I did not think about him again until he announced his bid to run for president. Conrad Black's book is a straight forward account of Trump's rise to the presidency. It is direct and succinct. He explains his business successes and failures, his near business collapse and his determination to overcome all obstacles. Although he lacked governing experience, he was a businessman who had a lot of experience dealing with bureaucracies and competitors. Black's account of Trump's campaign is riveting and his understanding of the political process provides context and perspective. Trump was able to appeal to the folks who felt betrayed and forgotten by the government. No one expected him to win, but somehow, he did. Love him or hate him, I thought this was about as unbiased an account as you will find of this remarkable individual.
June 4, 2018
Mr Black has written a book which shamelessly panders to his avatar Donald Trump and as in everything Trump, it attempts to normalize garish and immoral behaviour.
Most readers will find it a farcical screed as they watch Mr Black contort himself like a midway elastic man to make Trump’s lurid actions seem virtuous.
Examples abound: “He (Trump) parked a lot of dubious assets on an underinformed investing public”, made off with $44 million and shareholders were left holding worthless securities. This scam Mr Black characterizes as “. . . a skillfull navigation through apparently implacable problems”. The end for Trump and Black inevitably justifies the means.
Another is the well documented Trump University imbroglio. As Black puts it: “This was capitalism of the rawest kind - outrageous, magnificent, unethical, and amusing - and it made Donald Trump a lot of money.”. Once again money, the end, justifying the means. On November 18, 2016, Trump settles the lawsuit for $25 million, and Black brushes this issue aside as an irritant and indignity to Trump. Of course there is no mention of the victims of this scam.
Mr Black tends to avoid inconvenient details such as Trump’s five draft deferments, one for the infamous bone spurs. But has the temerity to suggest that Trump learned to be a patriot through his attendance at a military school. Combat might have been a more appropriate testing ground of his so called patriotism.
He entirely ignores the many alleged, extra-marital affairs, which if I use Black’s parlance, are almost certainly true. He states that “The whole Russia distraction was finally fading.”, although Mueller continues his work and Black like everybody else has no idea of the breadth of Mueller discoveries. The examples of biased reporting on Black’s part are way too numerous for this one review.
Mr Black codifies his pettiness by using the childish, patented Trump ploy of name calling and labelling those he doesn’t agree with: “loopy democratic Marxist senator Bernie Sanders”, “general misfit Michael Moore”, “bedraggled old greaser Carl Bernstein”, “mouthy White House reporter, Jim Acosta”.
He demonstrates his utter ignorance and disdain for proven climate science in criticizing Senator Sanders comment that the Puerto Rico hurricane was evidence of climate change, and as a true climate change denier applauds Trump’s environmentally unsound policies.
When he sticks to the facts it is a workmanlike effort, but in general the writing is lazy and lacks the panache and creativity that one might expect from Mr Black.
A characterization of some establishment Republican thinkers opposed to Trump by Mr Black can be readily turned around as perhaps an apt description of the author: (The book) was an impenetrably fatuous outburst of snobbery from a very tired and generally second-rate (writer) . . . few members of the public could identify or remember. . . ,irrational zealot(s). . ., insufferable snob(s). . ., or just tired hack(s). . .
Most readers will find it a farcical screed as they watch Mr Black contort himself like a midway elastic man to make Trump’s lurid actions seem virtuous.
Examples abound: “He (Trump) parked a lot of dubious assets on an underinformed investing public”, made off with $44 million and shareholders were left holding worthless securities. This scam Mr Black characterizes as “. . . a skillfull navigation through apparently implacable problems”. The end for Trump and Black inevitably justifies the means.
Another is the well documented Trump University imbroglio. As Black puts it: “This was capitalism of the rawest kind - outrageous, magnificent, unethical, and amusing - and it made Donald Trump a lot of money.”. Once again money, the end, justifying the means. On November 18, 2016, Trump settles the lawsuit for $25 million, and Black brushes this issue aside as an irritant and indignity to Trump. Of course there is no mention of the victims of this scam.
Mr Black tends to avoid inconvenient details such as Trump’s five draft deferments, one for the infamous bone spurs. But has the temerity to suggest that Trump learned to be a patriot through his attendance at a military school. Combat might have been a more appropriate testing ground of his so called patriotism.
He entirely ignores the many alleged, extra-marital affairs, which if I use Black’s parlance, are almost certainly true. He states that “The whole Russia distraction was finally fading.”, although Mueller continues his work and Black like everybody else has no idea of the breadth of Mueller discoveries. The examples of biased reporting on Black’s part are way too numerous for this one review.
Mr Black codifies his pettiness by using the childish, patented Trump ploy of name calling and labelling those he doesn’t agree with: “loopy democratic Marxist senator Bernie Sanders”, “general misfit Michael Moore”, “bedraggled old greaser Carl Bernstein”, “mouthy White House reporter, Jim Acosta”.
He demonstrates his utter ignorance and disdain for proven climate science in criticizing Senator Sanders comment that the Puerto Rico hurricane was evidence of climate change, and as a true climate change denier applauds Trump’s environmentally unsound policies.
When he sticks to the facts it is a workmanlike effort, but in general the writing is lazy and lacks the panache and creativity that one might expect from Mr Black.
A characterization of some establishment Republican thinkers opposed to Trump by Mr Black can be readily turned around as perhaps an apt description of the author: (The book) was an impenetrably fatuous outburst of snobbery from a very tired and generally second-rate (writer) . . . few members of the public could identify or remember. . . ,irrational zealot(s). . ., insufferable snob(s). . ., or just tired hack(s). . .
May 15, 2018
Okay, maybe you do not like Donald Trump. And maybe you do not like Conrad Black. Doesn't matter. This is still a good book -- thoroughly researched, well written, and persuasively argued. It provides the reader with a quick biography of The Donald, focusing on his past business and public activities, and then it analyses his unique rise through the primaries up to including the election of November 2016. Conrad Black uses his impressive knowledge of history to provide a perspective on American political life that is mostly absent from other pundits. The book is not long and can be read in a few hours.
Obviously, the author is a supporter of Donald trump. Fair enough. But my feeling when I had finished the book is that he crossed the line from ideologically biased analysis to cheer-leading hagiography. He acknowledges Trump's faults but consistently downplays them. You might say he "praises with faint damnation." However, given the boatload of books on the market from the Trump haters, this is a welcome alternative and well worth the purchase and reading.
Obviously, the author is a supporter of Donald trump. Fair enough. But my feeling when I had finished the book is that he crossed the line from ideologically biased analysis to cheer-leading hagiography. He acknowledges Trump's faults but consistently downplays them. You might say he "praises with faint damnation." However, given the boatload of books on the market from the Trump haters, this is a welcome alternative and well worth the purchase and reading.
noway-josé
May 16, 2019
Trump pardons fraudster Conrad Black after glowing biography Former media mogul who owned Daily Telegraph spent more than three years in prison. Black, a Canadian-born British citizen, was once known for his extravagant lifestyle as he ran an international newspaper empire that included the Chicago Sun-Times and the Jerusalem Post. But he ended up serving three and a half years in prison after he was convicted in 2007 of siphoning off millions of dollars from the sale of newspapers owned by the company he controlled.
July 6, 2018
Conrad Black's excellent biography of Trump's early life in business and rise into politics provides an excellent resource to sort through the mire that is our current media presentation of our 45th president. Black provides a clear and concise narrative of Trump's successes and failures as he works to transform himself into a politician instead of the businessman he has been all of his life. While this book is in support of Trump, I did not find Black excusing any of Trump's mishaps nor avoiding criticizing the president when it is called for. What Black does real well is to point out the hypocrisy and liberal bias in the news media that continues to grasp at straws with the whole Russian collusion story. As that story continues to die out Trump is moving forward with enacting his policy goals to better our country. I hope Black finishes this excellent work by providing a complete presidential biography once Trump has finished his 8 years in office.
December 27, 2019
Lots of big words!I would probably pay to see a debate between Black and Cormac McCarthy.A dictionary and translator might be necessary!I was quite surprised by the number of positive reviews,although there were the usual Trumpaphobes.One reader discounted the book because Black is Canadian.Make American Trump haters great again I guess.Hmm.Black produces a lot of factual information including(but not exclusively)Trumps shortcomings and missteps.A very good book.
June 2, 2018
Fantastic book. Conrad Black is very fair in portraying his subject (which is something new when it comes to President Trump). However, the book is not complete, and that is not the authors fault, the story of our current president is not done being told.
June 27, 2018
What a great book! Well written! An objective and fair look at our current Commander in Chief, (though "Trump-o-phobes" would violently disagree with me on that point).
Here's another's review of it -
“Is there anything new to say of the most written-about man alive? Yes. Conrad Black is a political observer, an historian, and a businessman who’s done business with Donald Trump (he sold him a building), and was one of the first to take his campaign seriously. Black understands the 45th president not only in the context of his pre-political life and family but in the great sweep of American history. This is an admiring but undeluded biography whose every page has either a shrewd new insight or revealing detail, and often both. It’s also beautifully written, with both a droll wit its subject will surely appreciate and an understanding of the visceral connection between Trump and the millions of Americans who felt abandoned by both parties. A great and knowing read, and a biography that has the size of its subject.”
— MARK STEYN, bestselling author of America Alone, After America, and The Undocumented Mark Steyn
Some observations the author made that resonated with me-
"Trump speaks to Americans fearful of decline. He wants, as his slogan says, 'To make America great again.' To those unaffected by the decline of America that decline was invisible. To those who were affected by it, it is a challenge and constant fear for their own welfare and national pride. The Democrats have had no policy for some years except to denigrate their opponents and to try to bribe and anesthetize a comatose loop and proletariat addicted to state benefit...
"The great majority of anti-Trump activity in the first year of his administration was devoted to the propagation of falsehoods which were then justified by the selective and intentional misinterpretation of Trump's careless and ambiguous statements. Distaste for Trump's straight shooting and sometimes vulgar style caused otherwise intelligent people to withhold any the benefit of the doubt and pathologically to interpret anything he said or did in the worse possible light. He is not, in fact, a racist, sexist, warmonger, hot head, promoter of violence or a foreign or domestic economic warrior. No opposition can continue on this name calling basis alone for much longer than this one has."
Here's another's review of it -
“Is there anything new to say of the most written-about man alive? Yes. Conrad Black is a political observer, an historian, and a businessman who’s done business with Donald Trump (he sold him a building), and was one of the first to take his campaign seriously. Black understands the 45th president not only in the context of his pre-political life and family but in the great sweep of American history. This is an admiring but undeluded biography whose every page has either a shrewd new insight or revealing detail, and often both. It’s also beautifully written, with both a droll wit its subject will surely appreciate and an understanding of the visceral connection between Trump and the millions of Americans who felt abandoned by both parties. A great and knowing read, and a biography that has the size of its subject.”
— MARK STEYN, bestselling author of America Alone, After America, and The Undocumented Mark Steyn
Some observations the author made that resonated with me-
"Trump speaks to Americans fearful of decline. He wants, as his slogan says, 'To make America great again.' To those unaffected by the decline of America that decline was invisible. To those who were affected by it, it is a challenge and constant fear for their own welfare and national pride. The Democrats have had no policy for some years except to denigrate their opponents and to try to bribe and anesthetize a comatose loop and proletariat addicted to state benefit...
"The great majority of anti-Trump activity in the first year of his administration was devoted to the propagation of falsehoods which were then justified by the selective and intentional misinterpretation of Trump's careless and ambiguous statements. Distaste for Trump's straight shooting and sometimes vulgar style caused otherwise intelligent people to withhold any the benefit of the doubt and pathologically to interpret anything he said or did in the worse possible light. He is not, in fact, a racist, sexist, warmonger, hot head, promoter of violence or a foreign or domestic economic warrior. No opposition can continue on this name calling basis alone for much longer than this one has."
May 26, 2018
I hesitate to even review this book because of the possible backlash from friends but most know I am a big supporter of both Trump. A quick read with all the details needed to assess Trump's success so far with none of the crap you hear from the media. Here he is with all his faults and when you step back you realize America has been on a downward spiral for the past 20 plus years and something had to give -I mean really......does anyone believe Hillary Clinton would have been good for the country???!!!! The glass ceiling....WTF! Has anyone in America heard of Indira Ghandi, Margaret Thatcher, Teresa May? America is ready for a woman President she just can't be a lying sack of shit like Clinton! (Sorry, but to quote Michelle Obama, "I go low")
April 15, 2023
As biographies go this one stinks, sycophantic and preening, it is transparently obvious this was written as some sort of quid pro quo between black and trump for the retroactive pardon Black received. Black falls all over himself to praise Trump which drastically dampens the potential effectiveness of the book. I'm quite fond of Black's excessive verbiage and usually extensive vocabulary but here it falls flat, unlike Black's other excellent presidential biographies this one fails to redeem its subject.
July 22, 2018
Very good book. He didn't sugarcoat Trump but rather presented him truthfully, the good and the bad
June 14, 2021
Conrad Black is one of my favorite journalists and he does a wonderful job of writing about the greatest president in my time. Black has known President Trump before he was president and he writes about him in a fair and balanced manner. If anyone is looking at a fair portrait of this often misunderstood president then this is a great place to start.
January 11, 2020
Basically an extended version of art of the deal.
April 14, 2021
4.5 stars
A very good and objective biography of Donald
Trump. I know those people who hate Donald
Trump will never admit that.
Black does say some negative things about
Donald Trump.
I think Conrad Black is just a superb writer.
It sortof reminds me of how one woman said
to a woman friend of hers it's all right to call
a spade a spade but you don't have to call it
a shit shovel.
What amazes me about him is how he just
says things that American reporters wouldn't
want to say or would be deathly afraid to say.
I could give so many examples.
Trump moving the
US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. There was the
usual outcry from the Russians ( out of sheer hypocrisy
as they had made the same move in April 2017) China
(which prefers America to be mired in Middle East disputes)
Western Europe (which has never had any policy in the
region except to await the American position and take a stand
more favorable to the Arabs).//The Congressional Budget
Office has never predicted anything accurately since
the Eisenhower era.//The whole lurid story (Harvey
Weinstein) laid bare the preposterous presumption of
the entertainment industry to lecture the American
people on politics and morals. Hollywood is a moral
and intellectual pigsty, an asylum for the stupid, the
corrupt, and the vocally shallow, who possess Thespian
aptitudes or a saleable appearance and manner.
There are many other examples of the above that I
could give.
I really enjoyed reading this book and I just think
that Conrad Black is a superb writer.
A very good and objective biography of Donald
Trump. I know those people who hate Donald
Trump will never admit that.
Black does say some negative things about
Donald Trump.
I think Conrad Black is just a superb writer.
It sortof reminds me of how one woman said
to a woman friend of hers it's all right to call
a spade a spade but you don't have to call it
a shit shovel.
What amazes me about him is how he just
says things that American reporters wouldn't
want to say or would be deathly afraid to say.
I could give so many examples.
Trump moving the
US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. There was the
usual outcry from the Russians ( out of sheer hypocrisy
as they had made the same move in April 2017) China
(which prefers America to be mired in Middle East disputes)
Western Europe (which has never had any policy in the
region except to await the American position and take a stand
more favorable to the Arabs).//The Congressional Budget
Office has never predicted anything accurately since
the Eisenhower era.//The whole lurid story (Harvey
Weinstein) laid bare the preposterous presumption of
the entertainment industry to lecture the American
people on politics and morals. Hollywood is a moral
and intellectual pigsty, an asylum for the stupid, the
corrupt, and the vocally shallow, who possess Thespian
aptitudes or a saleable appearance and manner.
There are many other examples of the above that I
could give.
I really enjoyed reading this book and I just think
that Conrad Black is a superb writer.
June 4, 2018
Conrad Black is an excellent historian and writer. It's obvious he knows and likes Trump, and provides many details of his life and accomplishments. How his older brother, Fred Trump, Jr., died of chronic alcoholism, and how Trump Tower at Fifth Avenue and 56th Street was the first skyscraper in the world whose construction was supervised by a woman, Barbara Res. He reveals the inside story on Trump University, and how it wasn't Trump's finest move. How he changed political parties at least 7 times between 1999 and 2012. Hillary and PACS spent about $1.2 billion, while Trump spent $648,000,000 and about $60 million of his own money. The Economist has been "hysterically hostile" to Trump since he first surfaced, and there would be no "honeymoon" period from the media for the president. And who can forget how the left tried to bully the Electoral College voters to change their vote! Does that qualify as tampering with an election, or not accepting its results? And while Trump is accused of being a misogynist, Hollywood and the media harbored the greatest quantity of of sexual harassers in the country.
June 29, 2018
Conrad Black's crackling prose is hard to put down. As a person who's known Trump and watched him at close hand for many years, Black has some keen insights into Trump's personality -- hard-driving, hard-working, and indefatigably optimistic. Black gives us a fast-moving narrative of Trump's life experiences, from doing hard physical labor on his dad's construction sites as a youth to succeeding as a developer in the cutthroat world of New York business and politics. I finished the book convinced more than ever that the unique confluence of factors in Trump's life have shaped him, despite his flaws, into a leader uniquely qualified to handle the challenges our country faces at this precise point in our history.
Informative, enlightening, and a quick read.
Informative, enlightening, and a quick read.
August 6, 2018
Conrad Black, who has known Donald J. Trump personally and through business dealings, writes a well researched book using his tremendous vocabulary. I had to keep a dictionary handy reading through the book. President Trump is presented with all his flaws, failings, successes, and his sheer force of character, from his early days raised in NYC to his first year in the presidency. I quote from the last paragraph of the book: "Whatever happens, Donald Trump will be one of the most vividly remembered presidents and characters of American history. Difficult though it may be to believe at times, the office of the presidency, in that astonishing, ineluctable, and fateful American way, may have sought the necessary man again."
May 17, 2018
Okay, so first of all, Conrad Black, the author, is a Canadian so he doesn't really have a dog in this fight. He has done time in the U.S. if that qualifies him. That being said, this is a 200+ page puff piece on 45 so bring along the salt grains if you want to read it. I will say that in future I will not be so quick to accept the perpetual negativity of sources like WaPo, the NY Times, etc. and I admit I have gone from extremely anti-Trump to just anti-trump.
June 12, 2018
If you think you don't like nor agree with Trump's leadership philosophy, this book is a must read. Many of my misconceptions and downright wrong opinions were corrected. This book is very well footnoted and documented. Black is a superb author. I was very surprised at the many facts that he revealed about Trump's early life of successes and failures, eventually leading up to his run for President. 5 stars!
July 16, 2018
A somewhat disjointed list of things done by Trump put in a chronological order. Just another way to ride the wave of popularity and sell some volume while it's a hot subject.
April 13, 2025
A President Like No Other was published in 2020, several months before Donald Trump's failed re-election bid. The author, Conrad Black, worked with Trump on a development project in Chicago in the early 2000's. According to Black, "...he [Trump] came in on budget all the way through and there were no significant issues.... He delivered exactly what he had promised under our contract, and it is a generally admired building, ninety-eight stories designed by the distinguished firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and undoubtedly built to an extremely high standard.... I will say that I found Trump a good deal more ethical and honest than many other businessmen and corporate directors I have known." (page 55, 56). Later on, President Trump granted Black a full pardon for a 2007 fraud conviction. So Conrad Black and Donald Trump know each other, and are on friendly terms. The reader will have to decide whether this affects the book's credibility.
A President Like No Other is mostly a chronicle of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, election victory and first term as President of the United States. The first several chapters are a brief biography of his life prior to his decision to run, and provides context for the more detailed story which follows. The story concludes in June 2020, several months before Trump's failed attempt to be re-elected. Because the story ends roughly five months before the election, Black does not comment on the events of January 6, 2021.
The book is well-written. The many turbulent events of Trump's first presidency are clearly and succinctly presented. Not surprisingly, the author is mostly favorable. He views Trump's policy-making as mostly successful. On the other hand, he criticizes Trump for his frequently intemperate statements, and feels that he made unnecessary trouble for himself by speaking too freely. Black is also very critical of the unremittingly hostile press coverage President Trump received during his first administration.
If you follow politics, this book is worth acquiring. It is a handy summary of the first Trump administration. If you need a refresher, this book will provide it. Although favorable to Trump, it is not hagiographic. While it does not get bogged down in excessive detail, A President Like No Other provides a surprisingly comprehensive overview. This is a must have book if you are a political junkie.
A President Like No Other is mostly a chronicle of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, election victory and first term as President of the United States. The first several chapters are a brief biography of his life prior to his decision to run, and provides context for the more detailed story which follows. The story concludes in June 2020, several months before Trump's failed attempt to be re-elected. Because the story ends roughly five months before the election, Black does not comment on the events of January 6, 2021.
The book is well-written. The many turbulent events of Trump's first presidency are clearly and succinctly presented. Not surprisingly, the author is mostly favorable. He views Trump's policy-making as mostly successful. On the other hand, he criticizes Trump for his frequently intemperate statements, and feels that he made unnecessary trouble for himself by speaking too freely. Black is also very critical of the unremittingly hostile press coverage President Trump received during his first administration.
If you follow politics, this book is worth acquiring. It is a handy summary of the first Trump administration. If you need a refresher, this book will provide it. Although favorable to Trump, it is not hagiographic. While it does not get bogged down in excessive detail, A President Like No Other provides a surprisingly comprehensive overview. This is a must have book if you are a political junkie.
July 30, 2023
“…Donald Trump had exposed the political elites of America in the ghastly infirmity of their jaded complacency, and had offered an alternative that almost half the electorate considered to be preferable.”
“…in the last twenty years, Americans have been prone to ever greater self-doubt about America's virtues and prospects. Nothing has done more to divide Americans than the Left's rejection of the traditional melting pot in favor of identity politics, magnifying the grievances of atomized "minority groups," delegitimizing American history, and casting doubt on the entire American enterprise, though always in the name of perfecting it.”
“The Democrats have had no policy for some years except to denigrate their opponents, and try to bribe and anesthetize a comatose lumpenproletariat addicted to state benefit.”
“…Trump has reduced most peoples' tax burden; relieved the fear that recession and unemployment are just around the corner (in fact provided a booming economy); and adopted a foreign policy of prudent and effective realism that has smashed and scattered ISIS, persuaded China to cooperate against North Korea's nuclear program, and defended American interests…”
“…in the last twenty years, Americans have been prone to ever greater self-doubt about America's virtues and prospects. Nothing has done more to divide Americans than the Left's rejection of the traditional melting pot in favor of identity politics, magnifying the grievances of atomized "minority groups," delegitimizing American history, and casting doubt on the entire American enterprise, though always in the name of perfecting it.”
“The Democrats have had no policy for some years except to denigrate their opponents, and try to bribe and anesthetize a comatose lumpenproletariat addicted to state benefit.”
“…Trump has reduced most peoples' tax burden; relieved the fear that recession and unemployment are just around the corner (in fact provided a booming economy); and adopted a foreign policy of prudent and effective realism that has smashed and scattered ISIS, persuaded China to cooperate against North Korea's nuclear program, and defended American interests…”
January 14, 2023
Everything I've read so far by Conrad Black has been fantastic, and even though this book was very short compared to his Nixon biography, it was highly informative and thoroughly engaging. Prior to reading this book, I didn't really understand what happened during Trump's election campaign and subsequent presidency. Everything was a media shit storm, and I personally tuned most of it out. Being a lover of history, I feel terribly ignorant of current events. This book helped a little. Conrad Black is a personal friend of Donald Trump, and Trump was portrayed in a more favorable light than I'm used to, but this was a solid biography, albeit very short (less than 300 pages, though I listened to the audiobook narrated by Tom Parks). It's a super quick read, but there's a lot of information to take in (for me anyway). I'll probably read (or listen to) this again. It would be nice if Conrad Black updated this sometime. It leaves off around 2018 while Trump was only in his second year of his presidency.
February 18, 2022
Taking this to be a book of recent history by an author known to be an historian, I'm disappointed to find such a degree of bias here.
If Trump makes a statement for which he has no evidence, the author colours it as something subjective or at least unfalsifiable. Meanwhile when the media commits a similar error, the author shows them no mercy. He does this, even as he hounds the media for a similar type of double-standard, being "humourless" and hyper-literal when interpretting Trump, yet flexible in how they see democrats. The speck in this author's eye evades him.
Early in the book, the author seems to describe outright deception in Trump's business practices as a kind of cunning or resourcefulness. Would the author be describing dishonest business practices in this way, if he found it in his political opponents? I should say not.
If Trump makes a statement for which he has no evidence, the author colours it as something subjective or at least unfalsifiable. Meanwhile when the media commits a similar error, the author shows them no mercy. He does this, even as he hounds the media for a similar type of double-standard, being "humourless" and hyper-literal when interpretting Trump, yet flexible in how they see democrats. The speck in this author's eye evades him.
Early in the book, the author seems to describe outright deception in Trump's business practices as a kind of cunning or resourcefulness. Would the author be describing dishonest business practices in this way, if he found it in his political opponents? I should say not.
August 8, 2018
It’s certainly provocative. Black provides a very thorough account of many high profile news stories. Much of the election coverage read exactly as I remember it, which added credibility to the accounts of Trump’s earlier ventures.
Black does a great job at pointing out the hypocrisy of the media in their coverage of Trump. But as the book unfolded, he repeatedly failed to hold Trump accountable for his conduct. By the time he concluded he seemed to have entered full Trump apologist mode, making excuses for inexcusable things and hailing him as one of the top 5 presidents we’ve ever had. This was a disappointing ending to a book that thoughtfully challenged my perspective of Trump’s presidency to date.
Black does a great job at pointing out the hypocrisy of the media in their coverage of Trump. But as the book unfolded, he repeatedly failed to hold Trump accountable for his conduct. By the time he concluded he seemed to have entered full Trump apologist mode, making excuses for inexcusable things and hailing him as one of the top 5 presidents we’ve ever had. This was a disappointing ending to a book that thoughtfully challenged my perspective of Trump’s presidency to date.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 18, 2018
Regardless of his work in other areas Black is a talented historian. This book won't appeal to the Trump-haters. Will appeal to real history buffs, Trump fans and people going into an analysis of the President without a set view of him.
Best quote from the book with regards to Hillary:
"Trump and his team hammered her across the country as an elitist infected with the bigotry of a failed establishment class, now frightened and desperately trying to retain its incumbency through smears and demagogy."
That one sentence highlights all that was wrong with the Hillary campaign and why Trump is president today.
Best quote from the book with regards to Hillary:
"Trump and his team hammered her across the country as an elitist infected with the bigotry of a failed establishment class, now frightened and desperately trying to retain its incumbency through smears and demagogy."
That one sentence highlights all that was wrong with the Hillary campaign and why Trump is president today.
March 3, 2019
Having finished this book, despite my prejudice against the current POTUS, I would one day like to meet Donald Trump in person. It was fascinating to find out some of the things about him, that i had no idea about. This book has turned me from a Trump hater, to someone who thinks that a person who was successful in building an empire thorough his sheer will, courage, tenacity, perseverance and ingenuity and later successfully become the president America; should be given a chance and see what he could do for the country. Overall a very informative book and a must read for all those who believe in everything that the media publishes about Donald J. Trump.
July 21, 2018
#18-25 we know the entire content of the book - an outline of all of the key happenings leading up to and during the Trump presidency - from watching CNN and other media. The interesting part is Black puts a positive spin on most of the key events and portrays Trump as the winner. He claims Trump’s rise to power results from 20+ years of dissatisfaction of the average American with the elitist, and “out of touch” previous administrations. He has appealed to their thirst for change and attention.
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