First things first: Trumpocracy by David Frum (a conservative journalist) is outdated as it only covers the current president's first year in office. That's important to know but it's still worth the read, in my humble opinion. Some of Frum's conclusions turned out to be wrong and I don't always agree with him but he nicely lays out the many corrupt actions the president took during his first year, as well as those of his family, plus his many business connections to Russia and the back-channel connections put in place by his son-in-law. No, the Russian connections are not a hoax. Read the Mueller Report if you're scowling, at this point. And, while the president tried to convince the public that he had separated himself from his business interests, early on, Frum also goes into how and why it was obvious that wasn't the case.
I read much of this as it was unfolding but had forgotten quite a bit. Some of it was new to me, but very little. Frum's explanation as to why House and Senate Republicans did an immediate about-face and fell into line behind the incoming president after so many senators said electing him would be a disaster makes perfect sense: an unpopular president tends to drag the rest of his party down with him in elections. So, they had to prop him up.
Frum has a newer book coming out and I'm curious what he has to say, 3 years on, but I don't know if I'll read it. The new book, Trumpocalypse, comes out in May of 2021.
Recommended but outdated - Outdated or not, I still enjoyed reading Trumpocracy for the reminder of what I'd already forgotten, how immediately and completely the president showed himself, his family, and his cabinet's corruption. Again, I don't always agree with Frum. He has opinions that don't meld with mine, although he's very up-front about what he believes and I think that his candor allows the reader to understand where he's coming from without feeling as if he's trying to hammer home his own viewpoint. It's also quite an organized read without a lot of bouncing back and forth in time, which I definitely appreciated.
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