I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year

Donald J. Trump #2

by Carol Leonnig, Philip Rucker, January LaVoy (Narrator)

The definitive behind-the-scenes story of Trump’s final year in office, by Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig, the Pulitzer-Prize winning reporters and authors of the #1 New York Times bestseller, A Very Stable Genius

The true story of what took place in Donald Trump’s White House during a disastrous 2020 has never before been told in full. What was really going on around the president, as the government failed to contain the coronavirus and over half a million Americans perished? Who was influencing Trump after he refused to concede an election he had clearly lost and spread lies about election fraud? To answer these questions, Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig reveal a dysfunctional and bumbling presidency’s inner workings in unprecedented, stunning detail.

Focused on Trump and the key players around him—the doctors, generals, senior advisers, and Trump family members— Rucker and Leonnig provide a forensic account of the most devastating year in a presidency like no other. Their sources were in the room as time and time again Trump put his personal gain ahead of the good of the country. These witnesses to history tell the story of him longing to deploy the military to the streets of American cities to crush the protest movement in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, all to bolster his image of strength ahead of the election. These sources saw firsthand his refusal to take the threat of the coronavirus seriously—even to the point of allowing himself and those around him to be infected. This is a story of a nation sabotaged—economically, medically, and politically—by its own leader, culminating with a groundbreaking, minute-by-minute account of exactly what went on in the Capitol building on January 6, as Trump’s supporters so easily breached the most sacred halls of American democracy, and how the president reacted. With unparalleled access, Rucker and Leonnig explain and expose exactly who enabled—and who foiled—Trump as he sought desperately to cling to power.

A classic and heart-racing work of investigative reporting, this book is destined to be read and studied by citizens and historians alike for decades to come.

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

Audiobook

First published July 20, 2021

About the author

Carol Duhurst Leonnig is an American investigative journalist and a longtime staff writer for The Washington Post. She was part of a team of national security reporters that won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2014 for reporting that revealed the NSA's expanded spying on Americans. She later received Pulitzers for National Reporting in 2015 and 2018. She is a member of the '87 class at Bryn Mawr College

Reviews

[Will Byrnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, who worked in Lyndon Johnson’s White House and closely studied many presidents, including Abraham Lincoln, said, “I have spent my entire career with presidents and there is nothing like this other than the 1850s, when events led inevitably to the Civil War.

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Here’s the deal, guys: These guys are Nazis, they’re boogaloo boys, they’re Proud Boys. These are the same people we fought in World War II,” Milley told them. “Everyone in this room, whether you’re a cop, whether you’re a soldier, we’re going to stop these guys to make sure we have a peaceful transfer of power. We’re going to put a ring of steel around this city and the Nazis aren’t getting in.”

I did not intend to write a full review for this one. It came out in July. I did not start reading it until August, and did not finish reading it until late September. That is what happens when I read a book on my phone, in addition to the two I am usually reading, one at my desk and the other at bedtime. But I was going to offer a few thoughts. Typed a line or two and then my fingers started pounding away at the keyboard pretty much all on their own. I astral projected myself to the kitchen to whip up a sandwich, make some tea and when I returned they were still banging away. I am sure there is a lesson in there about compulsion.


Phil Rucker and Carole Leonnig - image from Porter Square Books

There have been, currently are, and no doubt will continue to be many books written about the Trump years. I Alone Can Fix It tracks the final year of Trump’s presidency, notes that he had faced no major problems until 2020, and then proved incapable of managing the ones that presented, seeking only his own aggrandizement, while clinging to power at all costs.

If you read books of this sort all the time, if you read The Washington Post, The New York Times, or other world newspapers, watch CNN, BBC, MSNBC, and other at-least-somewhat-responsible news sources, much of what is in this book will not be all that surprising. In tracking Trump’s 2020+, I Alone Can Fix It offers inside looks at the actions and discussions, the conflicts and challenges inside the White House, almost day-by-day. Much that is detailed here has been reported before. And a lot of the new material has been outed in leaks to newspapers and TV political shows. Interviews with the authors chip away even more at the new-ness of the material, if you are coming to it any time after its initial week or two of release.

Trump’s rash and retaliatory dismissal of [Acting DNI Joseph] Maguire would compel retired Admiral William McRaven, who oversaw the Navy SEALs raid that killed Osama bin Laden, to write: “As Americans, we should be frightened—deeply afraid for the future of the nation. When good men and women can’t speak the truth, when facts are inconvenient, when integrity and character no longer matter, when presidential ego and self-preservation are more important than national security—then there is nothing left to stop the triumph of evil.“

I am betting it is not news to you, for example, that when 1/6 was happening, Liz Cheney screamed at Trump toady Jim Jordan (who, as a wrestling coach at Ohio State University, had participated in a coverup of sexual abuse of wrestlers within the program) “Get away from me. You fucking did this.’” Or that Trump wanted to use the army to put down demonstrations in American cities. Or that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Milley was concerned that Trump wanted to use the American military to keep himself in office.

Carol Leonnig (National investigative reporter focused on the White House and government accountability) at the Washington Post and Phil Rucker (Washington Post White House Bureau Chief) are top tier political reporters. They sat with many of the principals in the administration, including Trump, and amassed a vast store of materials in pulling this tale together. It is a horror story. In doing so they have unearthed considerable detail that did not make it to the pages of daily reporting. It is a portrayal of Donald Trump as someone who is generally disinterested in the well-being of the nation, concerned only for himself, which comes as a surprise to exactly no one with eyes to see and an ability to reason.

I take issue with the clearly self-serving nature of some of the interviews. Spinners are gonna spin and twirling is the name of the game in Washington politics. Bill Barr, for example, attests to his devotion to the law. How Leonnig and Rucker allowed such tripe into the book is beyond me. This from a guy who routinely politicized the Department of Justice to subvert justice, seek punishment of Trump enemies (otherwise known as truth-tellers) and neglect to trouble those accused and even convicted of crimes. Puh-leez. He also pretends that he was practically dragged from retirement to serve as AG when, in fact he had actively campaigned for the job. Sure wish they would have called him out on that steaming pile of poo.

Esper, Milley, and Barr—were tracking intelligence and social media chatter for any signs of unrest on Election Day. They and their deputies at the Pentagon, Justice Department, and FBI were monitoring the possibility of protests breaking out among supporters on both sides. The trio also were on guard for the possibility that Trump would invoke the Insurrection Act in some way to quell protests or to perpetuate his power by somehow intervening in the election. This scenario weighed heavily on Esper and Milley because they controlled the military and had sworn an oath to the Constitution. Their duty was to protect a free and fair election and to prevent the military from being used for political purposes of any kind.

Plenty more seek to burnish their records (the phrase polishing turds pops readily to mind) for history, eager to remove the fecal stench of attachment to the most corrupt administration in American history. I could have done with a bit more of Leonnig and Rucker pointing out for readers where the spinning ends and the truth begins.

One of the heroes of this story is General Milley. Were his actions not confirmed by multiple other sources, one could be forgiven for suspecting that he was polishing his own…um…medals in reporting to Leonnig and Rucker his role in staving off Trump’s desire to use the military to suppress domestic dissent, and in working with other defense leaders, legislative leaders, and foreign military brass to help prevent what could easily have become a shooting war with China. But what he told them checks out. The man deserves even more medals, pre-shined.


General Mark Milley - image from New York Magazine

One of the things that is most remarkable for its absence in this book is mention of Afghanistan. Really? That deal with the Taliban was not worth including? It makes sense, though. The MSM paid little attention to it when the deal was made, and largely ignored the fact that the actual Afghani government was not a party to the talks. They were more than happy, though, to jump on Biden’s back for implementing the shitty treaty by actually getting our troops out of an endless no-win war. Trump was rarely mentioned, and the awfulness of the deal, THAT TRUMP HAD NEGOTIATED, rarely merited serious coverage. Disappointing that Leonnig and Rucker seem to have skipped over this in their book. It was significant.

It is an avocational hazard for those who consume political news in mass quantities that when there are so many books out about aspects of the same thing, namely the Trump disaster, it can be difficult to impossible to keep track of where particular stories originated. Also, each of the Trump era books is heralded in the press in the weeks leading up to publication with the juiciest bits from the opus du jour. The cacophony of revelations can make it impossible to discern the altos from the tenors from the sopranos from the basses. It all becomes one large chorus. Did I read about that in this book or that one, or that other one? Maybe I heard a piece about it on CNN, or BBC, or MSNBC, or one of the traditional network news shows.

And no sooner does one finish one of these books that there are ten more peeping for attention like baby birds in a nest far outnumbering the worms their poor parents are able to scrounge. Thus, we get by with the news and political talk show interviews and daily early peeks at the books, hoping to be able to read at least enough of these things to get a clear picture.

Like AI learning systems, there is a constant feed of information. At some point (although hopefully one has already achieved such a state) one internalizes the incoming stream, somehow manages to sort and categorize it, finds some sort of understanding and can use the collective intelligence to face new questions, problems, and situations with an informed base of knowledge, and generate a wise, informed decision, or opinion. At the very least we should have a sense of where to look to check out the latest claims and revelations.

“A student of history, Milley saw Trump as the classic authoritarian leader with nothing to lose. He described to aides that he kept having this stomach-churning feeling that some of the worrisome early stages of twentieth-century fascism in Germany were replaying in twenty-first-century America. He saw parallels between Trump’s rhetoric of election fraud and Adolf Hitler’s insistence to his followers at the Nuremberg rallies that he was both a victim and their savior.
“This is a Reichstag moment,” Milley told aides. “The gospel of the Führer.”

To that end, the Leonnig and Rucker book is a welcome addition to the ongoing info-flow. We live in dangerous times, and they offer some of the nitty gritty of how the sausage is made, how the perils are generated, and sometimes averted, who the players are and how they acted in moments of crisis.

In the long run it probably does not matter if you heard the relevant information in this book, in a Woodward book (I am currently reading Peril) or in one or more of the gazillion others that have emerged in the last few years. What matters is that we get the information, that it is brought to us by honest, intelligent, expert reporters and/or participants, and that it is presented in a readable, digestible form. Leonnig and Rucker are both Pulitzer winners. Keep your eyes out for any irregularities, of course, but these two are reliable, trustworthy sources. Add their work to your data feed and keep the info flowing. We need all the good intel we can get to counteract the 24/7/365 Republican lie machine and to face down the next coup attempt. Knowledge is power. Acquire it. Learn from it. Remember it. Use it.

Review first posted – 12/3/2021

Publication date – 7/20/21



This review has been cross-posted on my site, Coot’s Reviews. Stop by and say Hi!

=============================EXTRA STUFF

P.S. - Since this review was first posted, Carol Leonnig has moved on from The Washington Post, and is now a senior investigative correspondent with MSNOW. Her departure was prompted by the political shift to the right of the paper at which she had worked for 25 years.

Links to the Carol Leonnig’s WaPo profile and Twitter pages

Links to Phil Rucker’s Instagram, WaPo profile, and Twitter pages

Interviews
-----Face the Nation - "I Alone Can Fix It" authors say former president learned he was "untouchable" from first impeachment - video - 07:46
-----The Guardian - Inside Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year by David Smith
-----Commonwealth Club - Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker: Inside Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year by Yamiche Alcindor – video – 57:01
-----NPR – Fresh Air - Investigation finds federal agencies dismissed threats ahead of the Jan. 6 attack - audio - 42:00 – by Terry Gross - more about Leonnig’s book Zero Fail but worth a listen

Items of Interest
-----NY Times - Day of Rage: How Trump Supporters Took the U.S. Capitol- By Dmitriy Khavin, Haley Willis, Evan Hill, Natalie Reneau, Drew Jordan, Cora Engelbrecht, Christiaan Triebert, Stella Cooper, Malachy Browne and David Botti
-----Washington Post - The Attack: Before, During and After - Reported by Devlin Barrett, Aaron C. Davis, Josh Dawsey, Amy Gardner, Tom Hamburger, Rosalind S. Helderman, Peter Hermann, Spencer S. Hsu, Paul Kane, Ashley Parker, Beth Reinhard, Philip Rucker and Cleve R. Wootson Jr. -- Written by Amy Gardner and Rosalind S. Helderman -- Visuals and design by Phoebe Connelly, Natalia Jiménez-Stuard, Tyler Remmel and Madison Walls

Items of Interest from the authors
-----Washington Post - list of recent articles
-----Washington Post - list of recent articles

[Jill Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, so, it’s a Tuesday in summer 2021 and the latest book about Donald Trump and his presidency has been published. I’ve read most of them so far.

I’m not going to write about my feelings - personal and political - about Donald Trump, but rather if Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker’s new book, “I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J Trump’s Catastrophic Final Year” is worth reading. This is, after all, a BOOk review, and my feelings about Trump really shouldn’t matter.

Leonnig and Rucker are reporters for the Washington Post. As reporters, they know how to write; they know what should be included and what to leave out. Their book is masterly written because both authors are long time reporters assigned the Donald Trump beat. Curiously, Trump gave them interviews - including one after the January 6th insurrection - knowing they were writing an account of his presidency. He was rather indiscreet in what he said.

The book is filled with interesting tidbits and Leonnig and Rucker go behind the scenes. They obviously talked to many people both within and outside the Administration. They were fairly even-handed in their reporting. And I think I’ll break my personal rule about commenting about my opinion of Trump. I will say that I’ve felt dirty after reading these books. Really dirty…

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

UPDATE, 10/09/2021: When I was reading this book this Summer, it seemed obvious that the main source of the inside workings (or mis-workings) in the Trump White House was General Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I wondered at the time about the propriety of a general being so chummy with reporters while advising a president about the most sensitive military matters. Anyhow, in exchange for his info, Milley is painted in heroic hues, standing up to a demonic President. But recently Milley has gone from gossiper to having to explain himself in front of Congressional panels. I have to remind myself that journalism, even history, isn't necessarily Fact, it's just who's doing the talking. Is there a medal for Intrigue? This is not to say that a single word from Milley is inaccurate. But it's nice to know who's doing the whispering. END UPDATE

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I've always found Donald Trump loathsome, long before he became Loathsome-in Chief. So I didn't feel the need to read any of the many tell-all books about him. I knew what he was. But his last year as president was a drama unimaginable, even for him. And that last year is what this book is about. Shocker: Trump is an abysmal human being.

This is well-written, a page-turner, and important too. It will be a handy resource of what went on in that last year.

Yet, people will ask: Was it fair?

Fair as to Trump? Yes, very much so. He is quoted directly. Hoisted on his own verbal petard.

Yet they quoted Nancy Pelosi as if she were some oracle, when all she really said was : This guy's crazy. He's dangerous. He's a maniac. We have deep concerns.

And it was sufficient for them to say, "Police there shot and paralyzed Jacob Blake, a twenty-nine-year-old Black man." That's it. But it wasn't that simple.

So, yes, nothing they said about Trump was skewered. But they still could not help but show their stripes.

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I've been thinking about this. Trump is now identified with the religious Right, the White extremists. And he should be. But, the far Right did not create Trump. The media, in particular television, did. They gave him every talk show, and his own network spectacular. Trump spoke, but had no agenda, outside himself. Virtually every issue position he had switched (see abortion, this index, generally) when he found a way to get a political purchase.

WE ARE IGNORING THIS.

We have been dumb-downed, laugh-tracked, heh-heh-heh-ed by morning talk shows, and gravelly-voiced by evening news. This is how Trump got there. Not by extremists. He's only one of them by convenience. He got there because of the idiots behind the screen. Pay no attention to . . .

I'm sorry if this in an unpopular view. I refused to buy his ties, because I loathed the man. Did you watch his show?

[Paula (on hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars to the reporters who detailed all the craziness that the asshole Trump brought to us for four long, long years! Zero stars to those that enabled him and set there every day and did nothing!

Reading this book brought home how close we came to losing our cherished Democracy and how disgusted I am with those grown-up ass supporters of his who continue to support him through all his lies & craziness - just because they hate Democrats or don't want them to win! When did we become so hateful? When did down to earth and otherwise normal human beings stopped using their heads & ears and bought into this sicko's coolade?

I wish people would wake the hell up! There has got to be better Republicans they can support then these nut jobs that are in the White House currently and this Psychopath! Come on Republicans, wake the hell up already!

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vulva Neck is the most repulsive organism on the planet. Air should be illegal if he breathes it.

I'm giving this five stars for quality and relevance, not for enjoyment. This book can be anxiety-inducing. Even if you've closely followed the news over the past year or two, you will learn here that it's all far far worse than you thought it was. That monster flatly DID NOT CARE that people were suffering and dying from the pandemic. He saw it only through the lens of "how is this going to affect my chances of staying in power?" Disgusting subhuman.

The authors deserve every one of the five stars, and more. They interviewed 140 people, and they maintained their professionalism and dedication to excellence in reportage. Whenever there is disagreement about events or conversations, they always say "so-and-so denied through a spokesperson that this ever happened." Of course, we know that when Rudy Giu-LIE-ani and the Tangerine Traitor and any of his other cronies deny something, they're lying, but Leonnig and Rucker remain neutral and fair throughout the book.

This is a disturbing but essential read if you want to be an informed citizen and understand what is still at risk of being lost if the Fascist Death Cult formerly known as the Republican Party continues to enable the wannabe dictator.

[Georgiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

The excerpts are fascinating and frightening. I have a ton of respect for Leonnig and Rucker.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having thoroughly enjoyed their original collaboration, I turned to this unexpected follow-up tome by Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker. Full of wonderful journalistic nuggets, the authors use their credible sources and varied perspectives to paint quite the picture of the last year Donald J. Trump served in the White House during his term as president. Touching on a number of powerful themes and using the support of many within the Trump inner circle, the authors portray things as chaotic as they appeared in reports by the mainstream media throughout 2020 and into 2021. Not to be missed by those who want a strong piece that has been substantiated by the reporting of many others, a well the reader who needs an inside look into how power can create delusions of grandeur for those who become easily inebriated by it.

While there is much Leonnig and Rucker have to report throughout 2020, perhaps the most pervasive throughout the year would be the events surrounding COVID-19 and its handling by the Administration. Downplayed from the outset, Trump and his closest aides refused to see the storm that was brewing. Medical professionals sought to develop a plan to protect the public, but Trump was more about appearances and stopping any limitations that might befall his voter base. Even the Secretary of Health and Human Services tried to appeal to the safety concerns for the general public, but it seemed as though Trump was ready to call this a simple flu-like event and scoffed at any further concern. This sentiment bled into many other parts of the book, including the campaign for reelection, and was not stymied when Trump, himself, contracted COVID in the weeks before the election. Social distancing, masks, and any precautions seemed to be a waste for the man who thought himself Superman amongst the commoners.

As mentioned above, Trump used 2020 to push his own agenda, which included attending many more of his mega (MAGA) rallies. These events, which gave POTUS a chance to spout lies and half-truths to people who could not drink the Kool-Aid fast enough, turned out to be the place to stir up drama and trouble for everyone. Trump thought these rallies were the lifeblood of his presidency, though they were all scripted to ensure his supporters heard him speak on the latest theory that passed his desk and seek to defile anyone who might have a voice to the contrary. The authors show how these events became even more troublesome when the election preparation was in full swing, as people would not follow protocols and infected one another with ease. All to hear lies forced down their throats and chants that would leave some to question to extent of the First Amendment.

Amidst all the other goings-on in 2020, the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement solidified a chance for the president to bring the country together, though he failed miserably. Instead, it was more pandering to his base and vilifying peaceful protesting in hopes of discounting the issues at hand. As the authors discuss in passing, Trump had no interest to address issues that would push him away from his base, choosing to ignore the violence or point fingers on the left for being the sole troublemakers. As the tensions rose, Trump politicised the clashes as being a fight for truth, all while pushing lies onto his base, most of whom knew no better, an issue unto itself.

The 2020 presidential election was perhaps the central event that year, though it touched on so many other aspects the book professes. Trump was sure that he was headed to a massive reelection victory and wanted the world to know it. He tossed verbal grenades at anyone standing in his way and downplayed the need to alter how things were done. Social distancing meant that voting would take on a new face, with many choosing mail-in ballots ahead of Election Day. While Trump downplayed this as a means of ‘falsifying’ results, he kept at his whirlwind rallying and trying to run things within the West Wing. When Joe Biden was chosen as the Democratic nominee, Trump lashed out at the man, trying to use unfounded views the stir up controversy, as only he can with ease. The authors do a masterful job looking at the election events and how Trump thought he could steamroll through things, creating doubt in the results even before they came in. At the end of the day (or a few days), the dust settled and Trump had lost. As many readers will know, Trump does not handle NO or LOSE well, which led to another whirlwind that proved to be the most intriguing part of the book; Trump’s swan song.

From the news that certain states (read: Arizona and Georgia) were not firmly in the Trump column on Election Night, the White House knew there were to be issues with POTUS and his handling of the results. As the authors depict in detail, Trump challenged the validity of the results as soon as they began coming in, crying foul and making sure everyone knew it was fixed. This led to days of conspiracy theories, even as all states recounted and a formal announcement of Biden’s win came across the airwaves. What followed was a collection of lawsuits, accusations, and false bravado to explore what appeared to be some sort of breach in the democratic process. Many readers will remember the soap opera-like dram that ensued and the flimsy lawsuits that were, almost literally, laughed out of court. Still, it was only when the formal certification of the results in Congress took place that things go really problematic. Building up to it in the final chapters, the authors clearly show events of January 6, 2021 as being a true insurrection on the Capitol and an attempt to hijack the democratic process, led by a man whose drunkenness on power baffled even those within his inner circle. Democracy had been tested and yet it withstood, for the most part, its most ardent foe sitting in the White House. America returned to a form of greatness, not because of the events from January 20, 2017- January 20, 2021, but in spite of it!

While i love politics and history, there are some events that are so enshrined in both that I cannot help but read about them over and over. While I lived through the drama of the Trump Administration (and worry there may be a second if voters do not get their poop in a group), I cannot help but sit, jaw slackened, when I read about all the antics that took place. Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker have used their two books to do just that, offering up sensational writing, reporting, and narratives about events and how things played out. The storytelling is almost fictional, as there is so much that just does not seem real, but the authors substantiate it with interviews, comments, and source material to keep it fresh for the reader. This book, which chronicled only the last year of the Trump Administration, proved to be a powerhouse in all forms, leaving the reader to feel enthralled by the detail, fearful by the events depicted, and curious about the future. Well-developed chapters tell the story in a clear fashion, while sources help prop up the goings-on, even when certain sycophants choose to forget what happened before them. I cannot say enough about the book, the authors, and the events depicted therein.

While I took many, many things away from this read, one that jumped off the page and slapped me in the face repeatedly would have to be the level of belief surrounding unsubstantiated accusations or the enshrinement of a false narrative that many tied to Trump have (including the man himself). Dictators of the future take note, this is how you spin things and indoctrinate others!

Kudos, Madam Leonnig and Mr. Rucker, for an sensational piece. I can only wonder what’s next for you both, collaboratively or individually. You’ve proven yourselves to be stellar journalists and apt political commentators.

Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

[Lorna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year by Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker was a sobering account of the tumultuous and final year of his presidency that stretched this nation to the limits as our democracy and all that it stands for was tested. In the words of the authors:

"The year 2020 tested the republic. Yet the insitutions designed by the Founding Fathers were still standing at the time that Trump left office. America's democracy withstood the unrelenting assault of its president. Trump's cries summoned tens of thousands of angry citizens to Washington to overturn the election, but Vice President Pence and scores of lawmakers followed their constitutional duties."

I certainly felt that I didn't want to devote any more of my time to the debacle of the Trump presidency but his last year in office was so catastrophic as we watched the death toll rise from an uncontrolled, and largely ignored pandemic raged through this country. The people impacted rose exponentially to the number of over 500,000 people dying and hundreds of thousands of people throughout this country infected with COVID-19 as Trump left office.

In a presidency facing two impeachments, there was the final assault on America by this president, and that was the drumbeat that the election would be fraudulent and the outcome should be overruled and overturned. Hence the insurrection of January 6, 2021 fueled by President Trump to prevent the peaceful transfer of power, a hallmark of our democracy, as we witnessed tens of thousands of vigilantes try to hold on to power as they invaded the Capitol. The bipartisan investigative committee is in the process of piecing together the sequence of events as we speak. Obviously there is much for us to learn. But we must remember the words of General Mark Milley:

"A student of history, Milley saw Trump as the classic authoritarian leader with nothing to lose. He described to his aides that he kept having the stomach-churning feeling that some of the worrisome early stages of twentieth-century fascism in Germany were replaying in twenty-first century America. He saw parallels between Trump's rhetoric of election fraud and Adolf Hitler's insistence to his followers at the Nuremberg rallies that he was both a victim and their savior. 'This is a Reichstag moment,' Milley told aides. 'The gospel of the Fuhrer.'"

But in America, we believe in a new day, and on January 20, 2021, Joseph R. Biden was inaugarated as President of the United States. And on that beautiful crisp winter day, we were all uplifted by the beautiful work of National Youth Poet Laureate of 2017, Amanda Gorman. There was a stillness as she read 'The Hill We Climb,' her paean to the the nation's triumph over a threatening four years of chaos and division:

"We've seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying Democracy
And this effort very nearly succeeded
But while democracy can be periodically delayed it can never be permanently defeated."

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

This attempts to be fair and balanced, for the most part it succeeds though I would agree it has a liberal slant.
This was longer than it needed to be since it was focused basically on a 14-16 month period.
This was detailed as fuck and boring in places.
The most shocking quotes have already been released to the media.
I think if you're going to read only 1 book of the recent 3 released ( Frankly, We Did Win This Election by Michael Bender & Landslide by Michael Wolff), this is the book to go with.
Wolff's book moves along a bit faster but does not offer the in depth coverage this book does.
I think all politicians and governments are corrupt.
I still find chumps behavior shocking.
I'm also disturbed at how the Jan 6th Capitol Insurrection is being reframed right now.
As well as the nonsense about unfair elections. This is just being used as an excuse by conservatives to restrict POC's voting rights.
Sigh
As well as to restrict protest and Jan 6th wasn't a protest.
The frustration

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, he was awful. And yes, he was even worse than you thought. A detailed recap that professes journalistic integrity and demonstrates just how awful he was and just who knew it.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Updated Adds Full Review 2.5 ⭐ Rounded Down
Another book on the final months of the Trump Presidency and the inner workings of the snake pit that was the Trump White House. Covers the same ground as Bob Woodward's books Rage and Peril. Should have been a lot shorter as it contains a lot of trivia (and gossip). Not terrible, not great.
Full review to follow, eventually. I'm now officially Trumped out.
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This book follows on from the authors' previous work, A Very Stable Genius, and its title is another ironic use of a quote from Trump. Leonnig and Rucker set out to illustrate that not only did Trump not fix it he did some serious damage to the institutions of American democracy. Like their other book there's not a lot that hasn't been previously reported and what there is tends to be trivial. It's good for giving the flavor of the final, insane months of the Trump administration: the pandemic; the paranoia; the Big Lie and the Capitol riot . The authors make use of some of the same sources as Woodward, but seem to have less access to top Republican lawmakers. Like Woodward however they allow some of the players, notably in this case Bill Barr, the opportunity to try and rehabilitate their reputations in exchange for their off the record cooperation, presumably. Barr is particularly egregious in that his enabling of Trump and interference in the administration of justice arguably kept Trump in power. His mild admonition of the attempted coup, after the fact, doesn't really excuse any of that.
I have trouble with reconstructed quotes, a device used throughout this book. In their introduction the authors explain their techniques, acknowledging their use of hearsay. They go on to say they also "reconstruct" quotes from the "public record" I.e interviews on the record, TV, speeches, etc. To me this is a false equivalency and basically camouflage. What they're talking about there is citing their sources ( which they do in the attached appendices) they're not "reconstructing" anything.
The off the record quotes on the other hand, rely on somebody's memory, even if they don't have axes to grind or are trying to salvage their Trump entwined reputations. Despite my reservations I found the book worth reading. It's always useful to compare different accounts of historic events, to note the discrepancies. One of the more interesting and in my view telling passages occurs right at the end of the book, when the authors interview Trump himself at one of his luxury golf resorts. He'd refused an interview for their first book, which he savaged. This time though he said with a twinkle in the eye that in a "sick" way he'd enjoyed the process, telling the authors they may be using him, but he's using them, too.
About the rating: I could have easily rounded this up a star to 3.5 about the same rating I gave A Very Stable Genius. The book is written in a punchy, easy to follow style and despite my misgivings the authors are solid journalists, who I'm sure got it mostly right. Maybe it's because I read "Peril" first I just found this to be a middle of the pack book. So that's where I put it ( and GR doesn't allow half stars). -30-

[Richard Marney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook over the last two days, mesmerized and sickened. I thought I couldn’t be more shocked by that wicked man, but I was. Democracy is truly an act and not a theory. We all must act resolutely to defend government by the people for the people.

[David Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading this, no matter how bad you thought Trump was, you'll realize he is worse than that.

[Onceinabluemoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of the 3 new releases this one impressed me the most, just unbiased facts, bone chilling facts…

[Jean-Luc · Rating 5 out of 5]

An astonishing, disturbing
and down right disgusting
chronicle of the last year of the most unhinged moron to ever hold the POTUS title and a scathing look at all the dangerous
and dimwitted sycophants that enabled him to blow his worthless presidency sky-high. A mind blowing read that really left me totally speechless and utterly exhausted by the end. I usually give a wide berth to that type of books but this time around I have no regrets to have spent a few hours devouring this devastating account of US presidential ineptitude.
I could spend many hours dissecting this captivating book but I unfortunately I don't think that my blood pressure would welcome it at the moment. A higly recommended publication
to be enjoyed without any moderation whatsoever!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for giving me the opportunity read this very disturbing ARC

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

140 interviews with 100 people at the highest level of the Trump administration...including the schmuck in chief himself. I can summarize it as follows:

Marc Short: Schmuck
Mick Mulvaney: Schmuck
Jared Kushner: Schmuck and a shonda fer die goyim
Ivanka Trump: see Jared Kushner
Stephen Miller: Schmuck
Mike Pence: Schmuck
Sean Hannity: Schmuck
Michael Flynn: Schmuck
Peter Navarro: Schmuck on the take (gonif)
Vaccine opponents: Selfish schmucks

I could go on, but I don't want to spoil the book for you. Schmuck.

[Eric_W · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm sure everyone reading this lived through 2020. This book lets you relive the events in a nifty chronological package that I could not put down. It was interesting to match my recollection against the book's actual account.

No one in the Trump administration connected in any way to COVID-19 fared well. Those who tried to warn the president got fired. Those, like Pence, the "oleaginous sycophant", in George Will's memorable characterization, deferentially who did their master's bidding, got burned.

The authors clearly had a lot of these folks as sources; even Trump agreed to be interviewed. But that also means the reader must be careful as many of the comments, made with full hindsight, are clearly attempts to put themselves and their own actions in the best light possible.

Even where Trump's policies were popular and would have benefited the country, his administration's incompetence prevented their implementation. The Supreme Court turned away several petitions because of incompetent presentation; the proposal to reduce drug costs failed because they ignored the rules, and it was tossed in court; and we all know about the Great Wall.

If there is any hero, it has to be General Mark Milley who repeatedly tried to be the adult in the room during meetings and was devoted to the concept of civilian control of the military, which he interpreted as also implying that civilians could not use the military as their own police force. Trump's recurring fantasy was that, as president, all the people and agencies owed personal loyalty to him and him alone, not the Constitution nor its principles.

Trump, who had refused to be interviewed for the authors' first book, gladly agreed to two hours for this one. It's recounted in the epilogue and consisted primarily of diatribes against those he had initially lauded but now despised and how he really won the election by the greatest margin in the history of the world. The man doesn't know how to speak in anything but hyperbole and superlatives. Doesn't say much for his ability to judge people.

A great read.

[HR-ML · Rating 4 out of 5]

The journalist/authors covered the last chaotic yr of
Trump's Presidency. They interviewed 140 sources,
some on the record like Donald Trump, & some off
the record. Gave this 4 stars of 5.

Trump made contradictory statements, I noted just
a couple. Trump refused to wear a mask during the
COVID 19 pandemic, claiming it not masculine and
made him seem weak. Yet he complained when he
mingled with Gold Star families (whose son/ daughter
died on active military duty) these folks got "too close"
to him. Scientists reminded several times that masks
were thought 72% effective in preventing respiratory
disease. He could not recall being told this before. He
accused Democrats of being 'Socialist' yet wanted FDA
to give gov't programs IE Medicare, drug discounts.
Donald joked about socialized medicine.

Trump informed White House (WH) staff after his 2nd
inauguration, he'd pull the US out of NATO & our troops
out of South Korea. He was treated for COVID 19 (C-19)
about a month before the 2020 Presidential election. The
authors revealed Trump had hardening of the arteries
of the heart (ironic) which made him more vulnerable to
complications in recovery.

Trump had no patience. He insisted the FDA approve
in just one day the off-label use of a script for malaria
to be used to treat C-19! The FDA needed to study side
effects 1st. He recommended this off-label use to
consumers. The FDA would or could have prosecuted
someone for doing this but let in slide b/c of his POTUS
status.

Trump wanted C-19 vaccines up and running by 11/04,
election day. He blamed HHS, FDA, CDC & Dems etc
when this did not happen. He objected to a 60 day ob-
servation of side effects (standard procedure) after the
2nd C-19 vac was administered to people in the vaccine
study.

Trump chided the virologists and other scientists for
being gloomy about the C-19 outlook. He appointed
radiologist Dr. Scott Atlas to his COVID-19 team! Along
w/ 'happy talk,' Dr. Atlas shared misinformation IE he
claimed small children could not be C-19 infected! He
greatly understated the % of US citizens who received
C-19 vaccines, needed to reach 'herd immunity.' The
authors alleged Trump had the US C-19+ stats altered
(down).

I believe the authors proved Atty General Barr obstructed
justice in relation to replacing the federal prosecutor
US Attorney of the Southern District of New York. For a
man more favorable to Trump. The US Attorney for SDNY
had an investigation on Trump.

The authors did a good job showing how "the adults in
the room" (some in Cabinet, DOJ, military, & Congress)
tried to keep Trump 'on message' & avoid him from
taking adverse actions IE he wanted to call up active
military to break up protests near the WH. Which would
show Trump as "the law & order President." Trump was
taught several times RE the conditions under which the
Insurrection Act of 1807 could be invoked, but the
seriousness & when to use this, did not sink in.

Mark Meadows, WH Chief of Staff, Trump's 'gatekeeper'
did not turn away conspiracy theorists who tended to rile
up Trump and make him angrier. IE Dominion voting
machines were made in Canada & had NO connection to
Venezuela (as conspiracists claimed).

Liked the section covering after the election + the 'stop
the steal' allegation. And monitoring conservative rallies
+ protests leading to the insurrection. The federal gov't
accepted a permit for 30 K people to rally on 01/06/21
in downtown DC. That should have been their 1st clue.
FBI noted 20 K people made hotel reservations. 5 lives
were lost. About 500 rioters were arrested.

Several brave folks denied the 'rigged election' or criticized
(or both) Trump's violent rhetoric resulting in the Capitol
riot. These included: Congresswoman Liz Cheney, General
Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Kelly-
anne Conway, Chris Christie & Senator L. Graham, Trump
advisors. Senator Mitt Romney seemed the voice of reason
for the GOP.

Trump blamed the 01/06 riot on anyone/ everyone but
himself. Per the authors, Trump viewed everything via
the lens of how would his political decision or action be
viewed by his political base? The authors gave many
examples to support this.

Revised.

[Linda Galella · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is better than “A Stable Genius” for one reason - there are many more names attached to the quotes and far fewer “high ranking officials” that wouldn’t speak on the record. Sure, there are still some of them, but not 90% of the book.

There’s lots of speaking in this book. Speaking, yelling, cursing, back biting, blaming…oh the spectacular BLAME GAME. That game is not just done by DJT. Leonnig and Rucker share the TMZ on Trump’s team as they scramble for purchase and cover. This is high value entertainment.

For me, there wasn’t much new information between these pages. What does set this substantial volume apart from its competitors is the chronology and organization; it’s seamless and flows like an award winning thriller. Beginning with the early days of the pandemic, transitioning to Floyd, BLM & violence in our cities, on to the campaign strategy and summer of struggle with Biden in the Basement. All of this is laid out almost day by day with the ever present progress and pressure of the COVID crisis.

Finally, the election and events leading up to January 6th. I watched it live on television and still while reading it, my primary emotional response is one of abject sadness, for reasons far too many, (and inappropriate), to elaborate here.

The cast of this book is anything but impartial but the writers have done an excellent job of keeping their opinions out of the book proper and putting them where they belong - in the Prologue & Epilogue. I greatly appreciate authors who give readers credit for being able to think and feel for themselves.

While our last president might not have been able to fulfill his “I Alone Can Fix It” promise, as Americans blessed by the freedom of living in a democracy, we each have the opportunity to Fix It every time the poll booth is open. Well written, thoroughly documented, professionally published and oddly inspiring 📚

[Charlie White · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re looking for the most damning, truthful and complete account of Trump’s final days in office, this is it. I’ve read almost all the Trump books, and this is by far the best one yet.

There are quotes from Trump and many others I haven’t seen anywhere else, and these Pulitzer Prize-winning authors actually got to interview Trump for 2 1/2 hours. Of course, he babbles on and on like a parakeet, implicating himself in almost every one of his incoherent sentences.

As I finished this book, my main reaction was stunned astonishment. Trump is not only combative and perpetually ill-humored. Worse, it becomes obvious throughout this book that he knows hardly anything about anything. This has to be the most uneducated man ever to hold any office, much less the presidency of the United States.

The fact that he was elected president and served a four-year term without a nuclear war happening is a miracle in itself. If he ever becomes president again, the United States will be unrecognizable when he’s finished with it. All we can do is hope that will never happen.

[Donald Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is for history and historians. If you watched the news regularly there is almost nothing new in here. It was important to get this all memorialized in a book. We should all be grateful this has been done in a concise and balanced presentation of the events with such an impact on our country's governance.

[Ross Blocher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for books about the Trump presidency: the stress testing of our democracy is compelling material. I Alone Can Fix It, as you may remember, comes from a stupid thing Trump actually said at the 2016 Republican National Convention: "Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it." This book focuses on the final, shambolic year of Trump's presidency, which made clear just how little he knew the system. While the title may sound sarcastic or sensationalist, Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker are in the business of serious journalism. They interview some 140 sources close to Trump and the administration, including Trump himself, who spoke to the authors far longer than scheduled - even after they'd written another damning book about his presidency called A Very Stable Genius (also taken from something profoundly stupid that Trump said when describing himself). As Luke Skywalker might say, his overconfidence is his weakness.

I was there for 2020 and saw these events play out in real-time, but it's fascinating to see them all at once, with one bad decision riding the coattails of the last. Of course, the biggest star is COVID-19, and we see Donald Trump first ignore the threat, fixated as he is on his first impeachment, and then downplay the virus as it shuts down the American economy. He promotes quack cures (Hydroxychloroquine, anyone? How about bleach?), and even laments that science advisor Anthony Fauci and THE VIRUS ITSELF are stealing media coverage from him. In May comes the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matters protests. Floyd's murder initially upsets Trump, but his public message quickly shifts to police domination and the racist trope, "When the looting starts, the shooting starts." It's a reminder of just how terrifying the world was when Trump had a Twitter account, with his petulant rants, public firings, taunting of enemies, and promotion of conspiracy theories sucking up each news cycle. Then there was that photo op in June when he marched to St. John's Church with military escort to awkwardly hold "a Bible". There was the election, and his loss, and then his lies about a stolen election. And then the attacks of January 6th on the U.S. Capitol. And the second impeachment.

As these and many other stories unfold, I kept thinking, "Oh, right! That happened, too. My goodness." Not only do we get a recap, but also insider stories from the panicked aides, advisors, generals, and congresspeople attempting to perform damage control or exert their influence through proper stroking of Trump's ego. Or simply resigning in protest. It's a sober retelling of a drunk presidency, useful as a recap but also full of insider knowledge that fleshes out what we saw in the headlines.

[Sugarpuss O'Shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's one thing to have lived through all of this stuff. It's another to see it all laid out in book form. How the hell did we survive? At least SEVEN DAYS IN MAY was fiction. Damn.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a superbly written book about the last year of the train wreck known as the DJT presidency. The fact that our country survived four years of this shit show is a testament to the strength of our democracy, at least for now. All DJT ever cared about was himself, never the country that he had sworn to lead. All of this was made worse by enablers, sycophants and power hungry politicians. There isn’t much new in this book, especially if you were paying attention to the news at the time. What we probably didn’t know about at the time was DJT’s explosive, expletive laden temper and just how much he watched TV instead of governing (which may be a blessing for the country.)

The chapter about the insurrection of January 6, 2021 is chilling to read, almost as bad as watching it on TV. As people feared for their lives and others were dying, all DJT did was watch it on TV. Even when he did finally make a statement, it was all about him.

The book is written by two journalists and that adds to the credibility of the myriad of incidents cited in the book. The prose is dispassionate, without the snark of the recent Michael Wolff book. Snark is fun, but not when you are writing about history.

A couple of quotes:

“The characteristics of Trump’s leadership, blazingly evident through the first three years of his presidency, had deadly ramifications in his final year. He displayed his ignorance, his rash temper, his pettiness and pique, his malice and cruelty, his utter absence of empathy, his narcissism, his transgressive personality, his disloyalty, his sense of victimhood, his addiction to television, his suspicion of experts, and his deception and lies. Each trait thwarted the response of the world’s most powerful nation to a lethal threat.”

“After his acquittal, Trump began a retribution campaign to root out the so-called deep state foes and punish his perceived enemies within his government, including anyone he believed contributed to his impeachment or had otherwise crossed him in the Ukraine saga. Escaping accountability emboldened Trump. The president told aides it was really his enemies who were responsible for him having been impeached. Their crimes were that, when subpoenaed to testify before Congress, they told the truth.”

Full disclosure: I borrowed this book from the library, as I am loathe to spend money on these types of books, although this one would have been worth it.

If you are a student of history, just like to read political non-fiction, or are just curious about these events, this is an absolute recommend.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

The view from 30,000 feet: Man-baby damages modern superpower in futile quest to soothe fragile ego.

What is it? A chronicle of 2020 through March 31, 2021.

Highlights? The lowlights.

The right audience today: Haters in the mood for a heaping plate of schadenfreude.

The right audience for the year 2031 and beyond: Readers looking for the consequential details relating to a world leader’s role in a pandemic and an insurrection.

It’s impossible to know if a book like this is completely accurate but I never found myself doubting any of the stories or quotes and, in fact, much of the book is in accord with what I saw, heard and read contemporaneously with the events depicted throughout. If the events are depicted accurately does that necessarily mean the book is a fair representation of the period covered? I’m not sure, and I’m also not so certain that was or should have been the authors’ goal. There were so many profoundly awful things relating to the administration that they rightfully took center stage throughout the book. They probably could have piled on more if they wanted to lengthen the book but I think they chose wisely. Most items were familiar and a few were new to me.

My initial reaction to the book was to question why I was reading it in the first place. I’ve read a few books about the earlier stages of the administration and thought they were fine but unsatisfying. Nothing seemed new in these other books and I felt a certain fatigue about expending any time to read about someone I found repugnant. This book quickly became different. The stakes were higher and I knew the administration had been replaced so I had a good feeling of closure this time around.

There really isn’t an analysis of what happened and that’s fine. The actions and quotes speak for themselves very well. While I thought the whole book was very good and fast paced I thought the strongest portion, by a pretty wide margin, was the epilogue. There the authors spoke about their 2.5 hour interview and used the man’s own words to stand on the own to devastating effect. The result was pure spectacle, a modern day Kurtz and his shameless toadies.

[Pamela Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the Presidents Men for this generation. I can understand why the authors have both won Pulitzers for journalism. This book was well researched and well written. A must read!

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm glad there is a written record by the professionals who did the research and interviews to obtain a wide breadth of event memories to document Trump's final year.
I believe this book will be the record used in management classes for students in the future to analyze the interplay of behaviors, decisions, and leadership styles that lead to chaos & instability, because that was what we went through.
Reading this book was an emotional roller coaster. It brought back all that suppressed angst, fear, and trepidation created by a narcissistic bully who was given the keys to the kingdom.
The story also validated what it was like to work for Trump. He created a White House (WH) filled with backbiting & backstabbing. They were loyalists focused on not getting fired. It is no wonder the turnover in the Trump WH was so high.
The book helped remind me that we were absolutely lucky to have survived the Trump years.
With more luck, we won't ever have that type of experience again.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

​A must-read non-fiction horror story.​

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating & frightening. There’s a lot more to this book than just the sound bites you heard on TV when it was published.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

22 chapters of Trump yelling and screaming at people, calling them "weak" and "lacking courage," while at the same time whining about how unfair everyone (and one virus) is to him. That can be numbing, but Washington Post writers Carol Lennig and Philip Rucker keeps things rolling through clear writing and sticking to the amazing and alarming (mostly) one year timeline of Trump's final year in office. We lived through this year, and yet reviewing the actual events, page by page, you can't help but go WTF?

Well, however sad, it's never boring. Much of this year from Hell you already know, but the writers do provide some interesting new info. For example, both Dr. Anthony Fauci and CDC Director Robert Redfield, thinking almost from the get-go, that the Chinese were lying, with Covid-19 probably originating (unintentionally) in a Chinese lab leak of a natural virus. Also interesting is guessing who were the sources for the book. Some are obvious, such as Bill Barr and Joint Chiefs of Staff head General Mark Milley. More murky are Oval Office revelations that strongly suggest Kellyanne Conway, Ivanka, and Jared Kushner, all had sit-down conversations with the authors. The revelations don't exactly clear these people (Milley excepted), but their input definitely puts some reputational distance on Crazy Town, especially those last insane weeks leading up to the January 6 insurrection.

If possible, Rudy Giuliani comes across as even more unhinged than Trump. (What happened to him?) On election eve, Rudy is yelling out early on, before Arizona is even called, for Trump to just declare victory. As nutty as this is, it's a strategy that Trump embraces as the days tick by. More sinister (little s) is Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, a Yes man for the ages. No matter how outrageous or slimy the request, Meadows seeks to facilitate Lear's howlings on the Heath.