Unmaking the Presidency: Donald Trump's War on the World's Most Powerful Office

by Susan Hennessey (Narrator), Benjamin Wittes (Narrator)

The definitive account of how Donald Trump has wielded the powers of the American presidency

The extraordinary authority of the U.S. presidency has no parallel in the democratic world. Today that authority resides in the hands of one man, Donald J. Trump. But rarely if ever has the nature of a president clashed more profoundly with the nature of the office. 'UNMAKING THE PRESIDENCY' tells the story of the confrontation between a person and the institution he almost wholly embodies.

From the moment of his inauguration, Trump has challenged our deepest expectations of the presidency. But what are those expectations, where did they come from, and how great is the damage? As editors of the “invaluable” (The New York Times) Lawfare website, Susan Hennessey and Benjamin Wittes have attracted a large audience to their hard-hitting and highly informed commentary on the controversies surrounding the Trump administration. In this book, they situate Trump-era scandals and outrages in the deeper context of the presidency itself. How should we understand the oath of office when it is taken by a man who may not know what it means to preserve, protect, and defend something other than himself? What aspects of Trump are radically different from past presidents and what aspects have historical antecedents? When has he simply built on his predecessors’ misdeeds, and when has he invented categories of misrule entirely his own? By setting Trump in the light of history, Hennessey and Wittes provide a crucial and durable account of a presidency like no other.

RUNNING TIME ➼ 12hrs. and 8mins.

©2020 Susan Hennessey, Benjamin Wittes (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History, Presidents, Government, Audiobook, American History

Audible Audio

First published January 21, 2020

Reviews

[Don Gerstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

I continue to read political books, hoping that I may find a gem or two that will examine the events of the day without overloading the text with a slanted view. They are difficult to find. This book at times will push toward the center for a few paragraphs before sliding back to the left.

The disdain for President Trump is spread throughout the book, on numerous occasions straining the reader’s credulity. Chapter One begins by arguing that his oath of office “…didn’t mean anything at all…” The book asserts that a written opinion by an unnamed person in the Justice Department and Trump’s boast about the size of the inaugural crowd (labeled “the ultimate evidence”) make it “…abundantly clear that the pledge meant nothing to him” and that Trump “…couldn’t even fake it credibly.” Buried in the text is the authors’ admission that “One cannot know what was in Trump’s heart as he said the words the Constitution prescribes.” Even as they admit this truth, Ms. Hennessey and Mr. Wittes still assert the exact opposite. This technique is repeated throughout the book.

Similarly, there are pages upon pages concerning Trump’s travel ban, and how the courts forced his administration to back up and dilute the original order. It sounds horrible as the book asserts that President Trump must be out of control. In fairness, the authors allow a passing mention that early in the previous administration, President Obama had tried to close Guantanamo Bay. In both instances, the checks and balances of our government worked. The point is that President Trump is not alone in his attempts to push the boundaries while working to achieve his promised agenda.

While I could go chapter to chapter and discuss the smears and insinuations in each, it is easier (and less space-wasting) to break it all down to a quick overview. There is no doubt that President Trump is an unorthodox president; however, he has achieved some of his promises and continues to bring others to fruition. Democrats have unsuccessfully tried to overturn the 2016 election for three years and, recognizing that it will be difficult to defeat President Trump in 2020, continue to try to oust him with whatever method is handy. This book falls into that category. It will be loved by those who already have the same viewpoint and unread by those who don’t, so not much chance of changing anyone’s mind. As far as the writing itself, the choice to flip back and forth between male and female pronouns when referring to a president was distracting and sometimes confusing. Those of you who don’t like your novels filled with vulgarisms may wish to avoid this book. It has plenty of vulgarities, up to and including f-bombs, and not all of them in quotes.

While the authors do outline the actions of previous presidents that could be considered precursors of what President Trump has done and said, the book concentrates on finding as much fault with him as is humanly possible. One glaring omission is a discussion concerning the attitudes and actions taken by other politicians in Washington. Donald Trump may be adding his own personality to the job (what president doesn’t) but he is also influenced by those who oppose him. Three stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for an advance complimentary copy of this book.

[James Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unmaking the Presidency is the 2d book I've read recently about Donald Trump and his administration which I think stands head and shoulders above the earliest books on the subject. Those early books are more tabloid accounts of the outrages and dysfunctions of the administration no more substantial than what we learned on the evening news. This book by Susan Hennessey and Benjamin Wittes is also about those dysfunctions. What makes it different is that instead of anecdote it relies on detailed analysis of behaviors displayed by Trump through which he's challenging the norms we've come to expect from those who hold the office. Each chapter deals with a particular Trumpian trait and how his deficiencies or corruptions are changing, whether temporarily or permanently, the fundamental and historical nature of the job. They begin with the oath he takes on 20 January. It only works when the president actually means it. The following chapters include those on Trump's style in foreign policy, his rhetoric, his corruption of the justice system, his war on truth, and his feelings of absolute right in conducting the affairs of office in the impetuous way he does. Additionally, a central chapter deals with his decision-making style de-emphasizing structured bureaucracy and information-sharing process in favor of a more personal methodology based on impulse and opinion, called expressive by Hennessey and Wittes. The preceding examples imply disapproval. But the book isn't a blanket condemnation of Trump's presidency. The authors also point out those ideas of the president they feel are correct. Most of the time, though, they find fault with procedures by which policy is enacted. Lastly, there is a "Postscript" added as the book was going to press. It concerns the scandal and impeachment resulting from Trump's interactions with the president of Ukraine in attempting to generate an investigation harmful to Joe Biden, a political rival. While we know the outcome of all that, Heennessey and Wittes didn't at the time of their writing. But they're able to discuss in detail how each of the previously-discussed behaviors were manifested in his dealings with Ukraine.

The book's a history lesson, too. It's comprehensive in citing historical examples from the earlier 44 presidencies which help us look at Trump's administration in the context of policies and the country's history. In every comparison, even with bad presidents like Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan, Trump's actions are made to seem detrimental to the office and our system of government. The whole process is so much more smoothly run if the president is an honest man who understands governing and our government.

While reading this I was struck by a sentence from a novel I was reading concurrently: "The higher the ape climbs, the more he shows the filth of his arse." I thought it appropriate to the message of Hennessey and Wittes.

[Miguel · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a big fan of both the Lawfare and Rational Security podcasts, I’ll admit bias up front. Having said that, this is an important book not just for its timeliness but also for its documentation of the current political moment that will hopefully serve as guidepost for future historians and political science majors to try to understand the mindset of current observers to the tragedy occurring within the executive branch. Hennessey and Wittes take the reader on a tour of how the executive role has evolved over time and the stark implications of what the current administration is doing to erode, diminish and distort the powers contained therein.

As a side note it’s been interesting to witness the evolution of Hennessey’s political musings from the pre-Trump era where she mainly came across as a staunch center right traditionalist, then to a lukewarm never-Trumper, to now full blown defender of the constitution with the onslaught being observed from the current occupant (at least from this listener’s observation). I hope that she and Benjamin Wittes will continue their keen observations long into the 2nd and 3rd terms of the Trump presidency (that's a bad attempt at morbid humor).

[Rich McGilvray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book strikes me as being one of the first serious academic works to look into the deleterious effects the Trump presidency has had on the institution of the American Executive. In short, it is excellently researched by two of the brightest minds of our age and does a great job of summarizing the ways that the 45th President has pushed the limits of the executive. Give it a read - you won't regret it.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book about #45 from the editors of Lawfare, who might be described as vociferous #NeverTrump conservative national security and legal experts. The goal of the book is to explore the ways Trump is changing the office of POTUS, although what emerges is an extremely damning case against his re-election. Also worth noting it was published just as the impeachment process kicked off, and well before the pandemic hit.

When talking about the President, it's often hard to know where to start, and so everything turns into a rant. Is it the lying? Or the corruption? The use of his office to secure his re-election? Or is it the incompetence? The aggressive norm breaking? Or the policy outrages? The complicity of the GOP? The structural deficits in our democratic processes? The warping of the Constitutional balance of powers?

Wittes and Hennessey do a nice job of providing historical context for all of the above. Although the overall portrait is thoroughly damning, you might be surprised to learn at lease some of Trump's transgressions are not unprecedented and some of the debates around his actions are more nuanced than you might think. All told, I learned a lot! (The blog is also a good read, even if one doesn't always agree with their stance.)

A few good quotes:

"First, his speech is not intended to “persuade,” in the traditional sense of winning over sufficiently broad coalitions to inspire political action. Notably, he almost never makes an argument in his speeches, much less in his tweets. He promises things. He demands things. He announces what should happen and declares outcomes. He never makes an argument that a reasonable citizen, or legislator, would engage as such. But this is not surprising; his speech is not intended to change minds."

"This is Trump’s radical proposed revision to the traditional presidency: not only that the president doesn’t need to be honest, but that he can be known to everyone as a “fucking liar”—not an occasional liar, not a calculating liar, but a pervasive, constant liar and bullshitter on all subjects at all times."

"If the prosecutor is obliged to choose his cases, it follows that he can choose his defendants. Therein is the most dangerous power of the prosecutor: that he will pick people that he thinks he should get, rather than pick cases that need to be prosecuted." -- Robert Jackson

"For even though the investigation had not found evidence to support a charge of criminal conspiracy on the part of Trump campaign officials, it described in excruciating detail a candidate—and a campaign—aware of the existence of the Russian plot to criminally interfere in the U.S. election for the purpose of supporting Trump, who welcomed the Russian efforts and encouraged and delighted in the assistance, and who brazenly and serially lied to the American people about the existence of the foreign conspiracy. The report spent more than a hundred pages chronicling the campaign’s and the Trump Organization’s many contacts with individuals tied to the Russian government, contacts they had repeatedly and strenuously denied having."

"When the Mueller report finally came, it demonstrated extraordinary wrongdoing on the part of the president but made no explicit accusations of criminality—a combination that seemed to baffle congressional Democrats."

"More generally, the erosion of American prestige, the diminishing of the confidence of its allies and the fear of its adversaries, and the lessened desire on the part of other countries to work with the United States together represent a price that, even absent a specific catastrophe, gets paid over time. It gets paid when other countries hedge their bets with China because the United States is not a reliable partner. It gets paid when other countries do not want to follow when the United States chooses to lead.
And, of course, it gets paid in moments of crisis, and crises inevitably come. In crisis moments, after all, the executive is always unitary. It snaps back to that Hamiltonian form..."

"The state’s senior senator, John McCain, said that pardoning a remorseless Arpaio “undermines [Trump’s] claim for the respect of rule of law.”"

“A man unprincipled in private life desperate in his fortune, bold in his temper” -- Alexander Hamilton

"The office has changed a great deal over the past two centuries, as we have seen in this book. Not all customs are good; not all new things are bad. And there is a lot more flexibility in public understanding and expectations of the office than much of the current commentary suggests."

"In an intense irony, the masses actually got it right in decisively rejecting a populist demagogue they believed unfit for office, while the Electoral College—fashioned to defend the country from such a man’s election by just such electoral masses but now enfeebled by a populist fear of counter-majoritarian institutions—ushered him into office."

"But the concern grows acute when there is a genuine worry that a president will not tolerate an executive branch investigation—and Congress does not bother to do one of its own."

"By the time you read this brief postscript, you will know a great deal more about this matter than we do as we write it."

[Paul Frandano · Rating 5 out of 5]

IA magisterial set of timely evidence and important arguments detailing Donald Trump’s assault on decency and American democracy. Despite objections conservative critics have raised about its obvious biases, I would say any bias Hennessey and Wittes (hereafter, H&W) evince are "sanity" biases" rather than caricatured “left liberal” biases. Why ought we not be biased toward a kept presidential commitment to honesty, civility, truth-telling, lawfulness, the separation of powers, deliberation, coherence, respect for allies, and, most importantly, respect for the oath of office that enjoins the president to place the common weal, the American people, first. Why should we not insist that the President of the United States affirm and live up to the oath and thus ''faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States” together with the obligation to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed”? Forty-four previous presidents took this oath, and 42 took their official obligations seriously (I’ve excepted Andrew Johnson and Richard Nixon) and tried in earnest to faithfully execute the obligations of the office and the law.

Hennessey and Wittes (hereafter, H&W) deftly mix institutional history with recent events to chronicle, in great detail, Trump’s “expressive presidency,” a novel turn in presidential "presentation of self in his everyday life," a veritable "flooding the zone" with words--tweeted, spoken, gestured--that place Trump 24/7 at the center of the news cycle, almost daily indicting himself with his own effusive, untamable logorrhea of self-licking lies, self-aggrandizing or would-be exculpating lies, and kicking down every norm of presidential behavior, any pretense of civic virtue in favor of behaviors that put Trump first, pushing his own personal brand, making millions of dollars for himself and his family from his office, ostensibly understanding his role as pandering as president to two-fifths of the American people and treating the remainder as though invisible or simply "not present."

H&W unpack Trump’s approach to each and every aspect of his expressive presidency, contrasting it in each chapter to the "process presidency" of previous presidents, in which the Chief Executive presides over an administration run through cabinet officials via delegated presidential authority. H&W summarize Trump’s approach early in their discussion: Trump plainly "doesn't care if (the government) works optimally; optimal effectiveness is not the goal. He wants to mouth off and announce things and have the executive branch below him effectuate his will." Each of the book's nine main chapters exposes a category of presidential behavior that, as you read this and for that last 3-plus years, has been literally unmaking the "traditional presidency" in favor of a model that is – let me say it – authoritarian and inimical to the ideals and values the United States, warts and all, represents to the world.

The flip side of this is a realization that even a high percentage of Trump supporters acknowledge in private: each manifestation of Trump’s demagogic expressive presidency poses an exploitable political vulnerability that, when exposed and represented, should be capable of moving independents into the “anyone but Trump” column.

Take, for example, the first chapter, “The Oath,” which the Founders wrote to be a concise, awesome-inspiring transformational declaration, one that makes one person president and returns another person to civilian life, framed by men who placed personal and public virtue above all other values. By his behavior, Trump proudly—that word is important: he is proud to--disassociate himself from both public and private virtue, demonstrating this disassociation every single day of his presidency. Other chapters take up Trump’s chaotic decision-making process (“process” is a virtual misnomer: he announces, the bureaucracy scrambles to catch up); the “non-unitary executive,” riddled with leaks and clandestine staff sabotage that often prevents a mindless, heedless president from destructive behaviors; the official, authoritative Voice of the Government its “flooding of the zone”; Trump’s war on truth and its numerous unfortunate consequences; White House ethics as, very demonstrably, “the love of power and the love of money”; the corruption of justice (just read the newspapers on any given day, or the most recent, 20 February 2020, Trump-Barr Follies); investigating the president amid his and his allies’ continual efforts to obstruct and frustrate legitimate investigation and oversight; the impulsive conduct of foreign affairs; and the exploitation of Kingly Powers such as the pardon.

H&W carefully point out that Article Two, in addition to the President’s enumerated powers, also leaves in its spare silences a tremendous amount of room for presidential action that becomes “untraditional” or “non-normative” the moment it happens. The presidency is an ever evolving office. To talk of "tradition" in lieu of "functional" or "normal" or even "sane" raises questions about "what tradition" or "whose tradition." Trump was elected to overturn tradition but is doing so in often illegal ways that politicians on both the left and right have either been powerless to reverse or eager to abet. In exposing Trump all the way down to his defensive, delusional, paranoid nerves, H&W demonstrate that the Man Who Would Be King is naked: has no clothes, is more or less only a greedy, petty demagogue, lacking any protective clothing. (That said, "traditional" is a word H&W overuse: it smacks of patched cardigan sweaters, pipe smoke, and moth balls.)

Finally, I should add that H&W are superb narrators of their own texts—both are practiced public speakers and keep a nice pace, articulate well, and get through complex passages with nary a slip. One reservation I had about the audio book was their lawyerly (she is, he isn’t, but Lawfare is his blogging gig) punctiliousness in observing quotation marks. Most narrators simply modify their voices when speaking words that are between quotation marks. H&W go the whole way: “The Brownlow committee made a simple arresting claim: Quote: The President needs help. End of quote.” Imagine “quote/end of quote” being repeated hundreds of times in a 305-page text. It began grating on me early and never stopped…but it did thin out toward the late chapters. (And yes, I listened to the book on my daily walks, and read the book at home, and sometimes read and listened simultaneously, with my audio player set to a faster speed than my normal leisurely reading speed, thereby moving me through more text faster.)

I’ll hazard to presume that every Democratic candidate for president – as well as any candidate for Congressional office - has a copy of H&W’s book and understands its clear relevance as a key to the unusual mind of the man who is now President of the United States. One trusts they’re using blueprint wisely and perhaps, ultimately, to great and serious effect.

And with that, let me attend to my spiking blood pressure…

[Craig Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a must-read book about the Trump presidency.

Not so much like the so called “Chaos Chronicles” which are also fascinating, this is about what Trump has said and done and by comparing it in an historical and Constitutional sense, how it might reshape the Presidency going forward.

It is extremely balanced and sometimes quite generous to Trump and we need more of these books - to try to see something positive in what he has done.

The only two issues - unfortunately it is published in 2019 before the whole thing goes completely tits up in 2020. And the really distracting alternating between generically describing the President as he/she seems unnecessary and annoying.

Minor issues really. And the authors pretty much predict that if he lost 2020, he would not accept it and smoothly transition. Be interesting to see an updated edition as we approach 2024 …

[Bryan Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say this is one of the best Trump books I have read. Hennessey and Wittes are thoughtful and insightful. Highly recommend.

[Khris Sellin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and infuriating, reliving the horror show even as we're presently suffering through it. So many things I'd even forgotten about because every day is an endless onslaught. And the authors added an epilogue because as they were just about to go to print, the whole bribery scandal with the Ukrainian president was just coming to light, and they were speculating whether impeachment proceedings would go forward and what the world would be like by the time the book is in the reader's hands. Oh, but who could've predicted this pandemic? (Well, turns out, a lot of medical, scientific, and epidemiological experts.) And now we're suffering through this, basically leaderless, with a ranting, raving baboon at the helm.
The authors refer to this as the "oathless presidency," which I think hits the nail on the head. This twat cares nothing about the Constitution, much less upholding it. Everything he does is for his own self-interests. Always.
It's unfortunate that this is one of the books I'd started before we went into lockdown and I had to keep going. Hasn't much helped my recurring anxiety attacks, but it is important work they've done in laying out everything he's done to destroy the once-respected office of the presidency. Hopefully that can be restored. Soon.
It's also a great history lesson as to the ideals, hopes, and plans our founding fathers had for American democracy. Let's hope we can still hold onto it.

[Melora · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars, rounded up. The introduction and conclusion got a little ranty (an easy mode to slip into, under the circumstances), but the rest is excellent.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished: 15.02.2020
Genre: non-fiction
Rating: A++++
Conclusion:
Politics is not beanbag….it’s hardball.
If you want to make an informed choice at the
ballot box in November 2020 start by looking
under the hood of Trump and his
... Administration in the White House.

My Thoughts

[Christopher Patti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would give this book 10 stars if I could. Benjamin Wittes and Susan Hennessy are two people uniquely qualified to take the reader on a tour of the presidency's place in American government from its inception to the modern day, with a keen view on what our current POTUS is doing to dissolve the normative bonds that have kept the president largely within due bounds... Until now.

People on both sides of the aisle should read this. It is not a character assassination or a smear, and in fact doesn't get particularly personal. It unemotionally educates the reader on what the founding fathers debated, discussed and ultimately decided about how the presidency should work, and how the role has evolved for better and worse since the constitution was finalized.

This is my favorite political book of the last 10 years without a doubt, and I commend the authors for writing it.

[Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting analysis of the Trump administration. While it's clear that the authors agree with me that Trump is corrupt and unfit for the Presidency, they point out that many of the outrageous actions he takes are actually within the expansive rights of the role.

We need new laws and maybe amendments to constrain the Presidency.

[Justin Harnish · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book that I have read on the impact that Trump is having on America, especially the office of the President. Hennessey and Wittes do an excellent job in detailing where there is historical precedence for the actions that are a daily occurrence under the Trump administration. Items like: being bound by the presidential oath, lying, foreign policy by relationship and chaos, the Justice Department used to protect friends and attack enemies, and making money while President are all covered in detailed form. Trump's expressive presidency has already further divided the nation and made good governance a more distant dream and this book outlines the ways in which other machinations unique to Trump (especially his personal use of the Justice Department) could be even more dangerous than what we have already seen.

[Bonnie Kutch · Rating 5 out of 5]

It takes awhile to get through this book due to its unfamiliar legal jargon and complex language; however, it's extraordinarily well researched and written and reveals so much about Donald Trump's narcissistic personality and the ways he has molded the presidency in his own image and according to how he believes it will serve him and his family best. Susan Hennessey is a brilliant legal professional and was able to give the reader a brilliant overview of what that man has done to bend the norms and defy members of his Administration and the public to stop him from his unorthodox -- and often, illegal -- means of getting what he wants. What quickly becomes clear is the need to update and revise the laws that all presidents must abide by and the processes he/she must go through to execute orders, in the unlikely event we ever have such a rogue, defiant and self-centered president in office again.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and found Hennessey and Wittes insightful on both Trump and the history of the Presidency. Many of the norms that Trump has intentionally obliterated are neither statutory nor constitutional, but simply accepted practice. That is definitely something Congress needs to rectify when this country returns to normal. This book is full of facts, citations, and history, and much research was done for this insightful book. The authors tried to and I believe assessed what Trump is doing not what is believed or thought to be doing Hennessey and Wittes did their research and showed you what is really going on. I feel that the authors have really helped look at what is going on with the country and how to fix it.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating and insightful look at the institution of the American presidency and how it has been changed through history, as well as the impact Donald Trump has had on the norms associated with it. The authors discuss a variety of topics including the oath the president swears to, ethics, corruption, foreign policy, pardons, etc. as well as how the president is reigned in by law, ethics and/or norms. The postscript was particularly educational as the authors looked at the Ukraine issue by discussing how this crisis reflected each of the previous topics discussed. The more I read, the more I am convinced that Trump as been no asset to the United States. This book was an excellent resource for helping me determine my vote in 2020.

[Dave Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

It would be easy to dismiss this well-researched book as partisan against Donald Trump. But its strength is putting into historical context the actions of the President. The authors compare “process” presidencies, where the chief executives run the government versus Trump, who thought from the beginning that he could run the country, the way he did his business, with little oversight and lots of independence. They explain, in fascinating detail, how the founding fathers wrote the oath of office and their expectations. They wanted it to be a concise, awesome-inspiring and transformational that would change a citizen and propel him (or her) to the highest office in the land. They observe how that hasn't been the case for Mr. Trump, who has sought to change the job to his liking.

The authors believe Trump's frequent lies have produced more leaks than usual as long time staffers seek to right the balance in the White House. Trump, they say, has treated his presidency like 'an ongoing campaign rally, a stream of consciousness constantly emanating from the Oval Office…not always coherent, but always bombastic, always combative, often untethered from fact, and ever electrifying to his base." And about his endless capacity to spin the truth, the authors note, "The point of Trump's lies is not to convince the public that he can be believed, but rather to convince people that no one can be believed."

The authors believe that his lies are usually designed to create an image for himself. They say that he takes an "I dare you" approach as he 'brazenly breaches ethical expectations and wait to see if the public and other branches of government will force him to observe them."

[Roger Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent analysis of the Trump Presidency as the first four year term nears its end. It reveals how very different this President has been in rejecting the normal use of Presidential powers in exchange for placing a much more personal stamp on the office especially in terms of the conduct of foreign policy culminating in the scandal over Ukraine and the impeachment inquiry. The author also demonstrates how Trump has used his many powers to pardon friends and punish enemies. Certainly every American should read this book before the next election!

[Alan Frankel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should be required reading for anyone who plans to vote in 2020 and a call to those who don't plan to vote to help save democracy.

[Kristy Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The authors do an excellent job of using the deviant Trump presidency to give a broader civics lesson about the presidency itself. While the Trump presidency is abnormal in almost every way — and an explicit challenge to the idea that we are a democratic republic — Trump is not the first to have exposed many of the holes in our system for keeping the presidency from becoming a monarchy. Rather, he has blasted them open. Pay particular attention to the chapters on Trump’s disregard for his oath of office, corrupting the DOJ and the president’s “kingly” powers over pardons, foreign affairs, and national security. One key takeaway is that Trump is not the only person in our government who takes an oath of office. It’s incumbent on civil servants to uphold theirs. And on citizens to demand compliance with constitutional limits on presidential power.

[Kerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this the day of, and the day after, the senate voted not to admit witnesses and documents to the impeachment trial proceedings was difficult knowing much of the “what happens next”. However, re-contextualizing what has happened this last lifetime of Trump’s presidency, and yes, the historical backdrop for it, was I think as or more important at this time as any.

As a listener of Rational Security, the audible production read by the authors was also fabulous.

[Arthur M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cold hard look at the mechanisms of the U.S. executive branch and how they can be used and abused.

There’s also an interesting style choice of alternating gender pronouns referring to hypothetical individuals rather than the genderless they/them.

[Csimplot Simplot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book!!!

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another pampered brat using big words like "war" just to call attention to their tantrum. And yea, the mandate is not over and they already have ALL the data.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a hard book to rate, because I feel like I should give it two ratings: the rating for anyone who wants to read this before Inauguration Day 2021, and anyone who wants to read this after. (And maybe split that "after" rating into "Trump wins" and "Trump loses" cases.) I'd give it at least 3.5 stars pre-ID21, because Hennessey and Wittes make a case that I haven't seen very much made, that Donald Trump (and associated Trumpism) is making very specific changes to the idea of the American Presidency, greatly at odds with the traditional view of the Presidency, and that we need to be aware of this so we can figure out what really needs to be fixed (or preserved) of that old style. The rating will stay about the same, maybe diminished to 3.0 stars, in the post-ID21 case of President Joe Biden, since the book is so specifically about Trump and what Trump did as President, rather than a more robust analysis of the "expressive" mode of Presidenting.

The view will shift somewhat if Trump wins re-election, since that will signal a victory for his "expressive Presidency." In that case the book becomes a primer for what we should probably expect going forward. (Somehow it got published at a crazy inflection point, just before the impeachment and acquittal of Trump, the COVID-19 pandemic, and everything else we might have to experience before ID21.

As an argument, as I said in the first paragraph, the authors are advancing a somewhat novel argument, that Trump is fundamentally shifting the nature of the American Presidency by using the core functions of the executive in radically different ways than did his predecessors. It's not like he's the first President change things; the authors cite Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson as the turning points from the 19th century Presidential style to the modern "bully pulpit" style (Roosevelt for inventing the idea, Wilson for actually writing papers about what he thought the Presidency should do). In some ways, they say, Trump is actually a sort of atavism all the way back to the Founding era, and they provide examples of Washington, Jefferson, Madison and others doing somewhat Trump-y things here and there. The key, they argue, is that a whole scaffolding of norms and expectations have built up around the Constitutional kernel of the Presidency, over 200 or so years, and Trump is basically demolishing it around himself. The point of the Oath of Office is important in this regard.

Style-wise, it's very Beltway-think-tank-y, which I don't mind (and sometimes find funny) but might put off others. But it did feel sort of light-weight; I wanted a thicker analysis. Granted, I also read Lawfare (the blog that Hennessey and Wittes edit) and listen to Opening Arguments (a law-and-the-news podcast that's by necessity become mostly about how Trump/Trumpism is wrecking the rule of law, the good work of institutions, etc.) so I'm more sold on the premise and willing to go further.

Overall, I do suggest that people read it; criticism of the current administration has rarely touched on this area. It may not be "shelf-stable," though.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writing a book that attempts to place the Trump presidency in a historical perspective is a bit of a challenge less than three years into the chaos, but the authors, committed liberals, do a pretty good job of explaining how Trump’s violation of long-established norms of the Presidency endanger the office and the country. More importantly, his behavior, and that of his Republican enablers, expose weaknesses in our Constitutional structure that pose a threat to the safety of our democracy.

If you follow the news closely, much in the book will be familiar. The authors review the various scandals, like the Russian interference, Trump’s financial conflicts of interests, his use of the office for private monetary gain, his constant lying, his politicization of the Justice Department, his misuse of the pardon power, etc. There is even a postscript on the Ukraine affair, and the failed impeachment, issues that were just coming to light at the time that the book went to press. The authors explain how certain norms of behavior developed over time, and why, and they show how Trump’s “expressive presidency,” designed to serve the interests of his own ego and bank account, weakens our institutions. For example, the constant lying threatens our national security in various ways. There is an increase in leaking by government insiders anxious to get the truth out, and foreign governments come to realize that the word of our President can’t be relied upon.

A lot of what is in the book is timely and interesting, though often predictable. The authors have the usual blind spots that seem to widely afflict the left wing. They see the issue as a Trump problem, rather than what it really is, which is a Republican Party problem. It is not just Trump who is violating norms, it is the Republican Party as a whole. Witness the behavior of Mitch McConnell in the Senate. There was his refusal to take up the nomination of Merrick Garland and now he refuses to allow Senate consideration of hundreds of bills passed by the House. The real problem, which the authors fail to grasp, is that a minority party with unpopular ideas but well financed by certain business interests, including fossil fuel corporations, is determined to hold onto power by any means available. They don’t believe in our democracy and our Constitution has many gaps that allow them to exploit it to further the interests of their donors.

The second big blind spot is the authors’ failure to address the influence of Russia and Vladimir Putin over Trump. The peculiarity of Trump’s behavior where Putin is concerned is mentioned in passing, but never explored. In the postscript on Ukraine, the authors repeat the usual Democratic talking point that Trump’s purpose was to get dirt on Joe Biden while ignoring the other motive of attempting to absolve Russia from charges of 2016 election interference by claiming that the real bad actor was Ukraine. Russian infiltration of the Republican Party is a serious, serious problem and the authors, like so many others on the left, seem afraid to address it.

So the book is a worthwhile read, occasionally thought-provoking, but nothing particularly spectacular. It is comforting, however, in these times of widespread ignorance, fueled by idiotic social media and disinformation, that there are still serious journalists out there who care about our institutions and want to preserve them. So I give the authors credit for that.

[Paul Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book about the presidency and how Donald Trump has changed it. Trump's presidency will go down in history as well as infamy. He is the man our founding fathers warned us about. A man with great expectations of the power he thought was his as president, and the realities he found once he assumed the office. Trump may have envisioned the presidency and the reality he found weren't the same thing; we all know how he tried to bend it to his own reality.
The author's show how, through comparison to his predecessors, Trump has changed the office of president, for the worse and maybe for the better. The U.S. has evolved and the presidency with it. The presidency, has over time, evolved depending on the time and it's occupant therein. Lincoln, FDR and others have made great strides as others have made little if any real substantive changes. Trump may in the end, be thought of as having made changes to the presidency, but for many of the wrong and most dangerous reasons. The author's comparison's are considered and thoughtful in this light. However it makes clear that any real substantive changes can only be made by the people, if they are of a mind to do it. The election of Joe Biden and the defeat of Trump was a first of many difficult decisions if the presidency and the nation is to continue to evolve.

[Rob Lund · Rating 5 out of 5]

Benjamin Wittes is a regular on Charlie Sykes' podcast The Bulwark (my new favorite show). His political analyses are always spot on and razor sharp, and his and Hennessey's book Unmaking the Presidency is even more keen. Even more, it's prescient in that it was written just before the outcome of Impeachment #1.

I don't know why exactly, but I'm drawn to Whittes's voice in the way that I love listening to David Sedaris. It's nerdy and awkward, not at all a stentor; he makes up for vocal deficiencies by crafting uniquely beautiful prose, in this case of the poly-sci variety. I found myself rewinding several sections to both fully understand the dense construction of a passage and also to hear Ben just say it again. All that to say, do yourself a favor and get the audiobook. You won't be disappointed.

Whittes and Hennessey spend a great deal of time talking about the historical progression of the office of President, how it's changed over time and where it's going. I found this fascinating and troubling. At times, they seem to get dangerously close to equivocating Trump's behavior with those of previous generations, but at least acknowledge that his seems to be orders of magnitude more tumultuous.

The really jaw-dropping fact is that they so pointedly predicted all of Trump's future behavior -- election denial, refusal to concede, violence incitement -- from the vantage point of 2019. I desperately want them to write a follow-up!

*** EDIT ***

The lengthy discussion on the political theory of the "unitary executive" is fascinating and also troubling. It's the central feature of the US constitutional republic that separates us from European monarchies, and yet it suffers from vulnerabilities of modern novel autocrats.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Highly informative and at the same time completely readable. It examines presidential powers - both throughout our short history and in terms of how Conald Trump abuses them. It posits the truth that most presidential powers are broad and though they are based on the Constitution and some legislative oversight, a lot of how they are executed is based on “norms” The authors suggest that Conald never took the Presidental Oath seriously, scoffed at it in fact and therefore that is the root of how he pushes, ignores and abuses the powers inherent in the office. Highly recommend.

“...everyone around the world will know they are dealing with a highly impulsive individual who makes decisions with proud ignorance, without consultation or regard for consequences - an individual who makes decisions that lie wholly outside traditional expectations of American behavior.

“...he has inflicted damage again and again by personalizing and abusing powers that the presidency clearly possesses.”

“His mendacity is a key feature of his incompetence.”