Lying in State: Why Presidents Lie -- And Why Trump Is Worse

by Eric Alterman

This definitive history of presidential lying reveals how our standards for truthfulness have eroded -- and why Trump's lies are especially dangerous.If there's one thing we know about Donald Trump, it's that he lies. But he's by no means the first president to do so. In Lying in State, Eric Alterman asks how we ended up with such a pathologically dishonest commander in chief, showing that, from early on, the United States has persistently expanded its power and hegemony on the basis of presidential lies. He also reveals the cumulative effect of this deception-each lie a president tells makes it more acceptable for subsequent presidents to lie-and the media's complicity in spreading misinformation. Donald Trump, then, represents not an aberration but the culmination of an age-old trend. Full of vivid historical examples and trenchant analysis, Lying in State is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how we arrived in this age of alternative facts.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History

391 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 16, 2020

About the author

Eric Alterman is a CUNY Distinguished Professor of English and Journalism, a media columnist for the Nation, a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, and the author of seven books, including the national bestsellers What Liberal Media? and The Book on Bush. He lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Leslie Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starting with George Washington through Trump, a history of what presidents have lied about and why. And it is not just the presidents, the media is guilty of soft-peddling lies over the years. Especially shocking was the complicity and deviousness of so many, all in the name of greed, oppression and power.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not always been interested in politics so this book was shocking to say the least. It certainly discredits any history books from school that I was given. This book peels back the the layers of lies that have been sanitized, shining light on the people which are supposed to be have our best interests represented in Congress. Nothing can be further from the truth as the people we have elected in good faith have shown us in the past. They have the right to say shame on us for not holding them accountable in the unbelievable amount of lies, fabrications, conspiracy theories and down right hatred of the other side and it's people. It is amazing to me how much we have been lied to in an effort to push personal and party agendas, so thoroughly despicable it is surprising we have not impeached more Presidents and members of Congress. It also puts into sharp relief how much was/is really kept from the public, be it health conditions, slaves, womanizing, drummed up wars, and most recently the rantings of spoiled, petty, narcissistic man we now call President. This book shows us how little we really know about what actually has/is or will be occurring in our government. It is also apparent why foreign countries are not as fond of the US, since they have not always received our best treatment and clearly taken advantage. This book is definitely an eyeopener as to the past and the lies that were told "in the Country's best interest" more accurately someone's best interest. I had to read sections over and over to make sure I did not misread or to understand correctly the information. We have allowed "little white lies" to become acceptable and now are so ludicrous and outrageous we now faced with a conman who could not tell the truth because he knows no such thing. "Trust but verify" according to Ronald Reagan, he was telling us to do just that all the while he and all the others which have come before or after lied to us, we have not verified the lies we have been told.

[Fran · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is really two books.
The first section (apparently written 15 years ago) is a summary of presidential deceit of a handful of administrations, from a liberal elite perspective, largely embedded in language justifying and/or 'inevitable-izing' US empire/expansion. I skipped a few presidents when I saw that there was not much new, but given how poorly this history is covered in most conventional history classes, it might be worth a read for many.

The second section brings us to current politics, and is the author's spin. The section on the Obama administration has nearly nothing on the administration's deceits. Instead it's a blast of the right-wing media machine, and ways conventional establishment media abetted that partisan mission - a topic worth learning about about, but which has been covered much better in other books. I didn't look at may of the footnotes (there are many), but a few in this section did not in any way support the claims made in the text.

The section on the current white house occupant - the draw for me and probably many others - is hard to characterize. Calling out lies and dishonesty of this administration is both like shooting fish in a barrel and an impossibility given how falsehood is a daily/hourly essence of their M.O. It's also mostly about how the media, of may sorts, abetted the undermining of truth itself. Again, a topic worth understanding that has been covered better by others.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once I read that this book began as the author’s dissertation, it began to make sense to me. I enjoyed this book, but not the experience of reading it, and I think it was because quite frankly not many dissertations are meant to be read. I won’t let my dislike of the writing style keep me from recommending it; it’s a good history of presidential lying and the chapters on Trump are particularly interesting.

[Chad Schultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! It was as fascinating as it was horrifying.

Does this book talk about Trump and how he has lied more than any other president in US history? Yes. But it does so much more than that. It talks about how Trump was not a unique, impossible aberration, but about how he was practically the inevitable culmination of historical and political forces. This goes back to George Washington and talks about many cases of presidential deceit. About what presidents lied about, why they lied, how the American populace reacted and how popular attitudes changed. If you had a terrific education on history, this will be nothing new. For the rest of us, it's deeply disturbing. The book travels forward through history, showing how presidents lying became practically a common part of day to day functioning, and how it became steadily more accepted by Americans. It points out how and when conservatives started playing fast and loose with the truth, about the rise of Fox News and other efforts to spin "alternative facts" long before the phrase had existed.

Many revered presidents are ruined for me now, based on their lies and unethical actions, but it's nice to know that Obama was a standout for being an unusually honest president (although, he, too, lied at times).

This book is a highly worthwhile read, and I'm sure will be one of my 2021 reads that I most recommend.

[Pat Schifftner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite a revelation. His explanation of what constitutes lying on a political level is clear. With each progression, presidential deception seems to grow as much as his power as executive does. (Sad that no woman's made it to this level and won't in my lifetime.) Presidential power has grown to such an extent that in the wrong hands, it's alarming. Documentation of 64 pages of footnote listings rivals the book's body of 320 pages. Author Alterman has a PHD in American history, after all, and wrote his dissertation on a segment of presidential lies told about Yalta and the Cuban Missile Crisis. I didn't cross reference even one of those footnotes but didn't feel I needed to. Read it. It's a real eyeopener.
Oh, and I subsequently bought a copy. Great history reference.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and horrifically shocking.

Being President of the US is a license to be deceptive?

A historic romp of situations that caused lying to the public uttered from within the White House. There's been plenty with some worse than others and this book gets them listed through all the Presidents who crossed that line.

Those True-Trumpers stay away from reading as it'll only make you upset that your demented hero is being demeaned (quite deservingly).

[Colleen Hickman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning about the first 40 or so presidents and found that part interesting. I disliked the section on Obama, whom the author found almost no fault with; the neoliberal hero worship of him just rings hollow for me. The author bashed Trump pretty intensely, but I'd heard most of that before, so it was nothing new. The book just started losing its appeal for me soon after George H.W. Bush and became quite partisan. I didn't finish it.

[Regan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a super read! This needs to be added to required reading from junior high and high school. Alterman takes his readers through each president starting with Washington and details in an engaging voice what each did and said that has ultimately proven to be a lie. It's not just about Trump and the fact that whenever he opens his mouth if it's not to put in a burger it's to tell a lie.

[larry cowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you read nothing else in this book, be sure to read the conclusion. Then go back and read the rest.

[Eric Alterman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better than Tolstoy, Mann, James, etc .... not as good as Philip Roth