The Method to the Madness

April 22, 2019
In this entertaining oral history, reporters Salkin and Short ask readers to accept an unconventional conclusion: that Donald Trump’s rise to the presidency was “diligently” planned. A fixture on TV and in New York gossip columns, Trump had often floated the idea of running for president—but few ever took him seriously. In fact, the authors argue, Trump spent decades “puzzling out” politics, and waiting for the right “window of opportunity.” In 1999, Trump nearly challenged Pat Buchanan for the 2000 Reform Party nomination, an aborted effort that they say first showcased Trump’s raw political instincts (he branded Buchanan a “Hitler lover”). He also weighed a run for governor in New York in 2014. Trump’s window of opportunity finally opened with the 2016 election. Buoyed by his TV celebrity (“The Apprentice recast him for the masses”); the rise of alt-right media outlets (“misinformation spread more quickly”); plummeting trust in government; and, of course, Trump’s unique prowess on Twitter (“there’s nothing wishy-washy about Donald Trump”), the stars had finally aligned for Trump and his brand of tribal politics. Stitching together extracts from more than 100 sources, this is a rollicking, insightful look at the political crucible in which the Trump presidency was forged.

June 1, 2019
Two journalists team up, conduct more than 100 interviews with key figures in (and out of) Camp Trump, and conclude his decision to run for president was far from impulsive. In Hamlet, Polonius said of the prince's psychological state, "though this be madness, yet there is method in't." Salkin (From Scratch: Inside the Food Network, 2013, etc.) and Short, both of whom have written for the New York Post, set out to prove that the same is true of President Donald Trump. The text comprises snippets of interviews with a variety of sources, from Al Sharpton and Gloria Allred to Anthony Scaramucci and Steve Bannon. (The entire list of contributors, which includes journalists, political figures, and advisers, consumes eight pages.) The authors also chime in continually throughout the 32 chapters. They endeavor to show a different Trump than the one many imagine. Here is a man who takes notes during meetings (!), is a sharp questioner, often displays a long attention span, was willing to alter his positions to appeal to his base, and flirted with running for political office any number of times (including governor of New York) but who always changed his mind. The authors elicit praise from those who are/were close to him, such as Bannon and Tucker Carlson. Not every interview subject, of course, has fond memories, and readers with Trump fatigue should stay away. Some contributors comment about his arrogance (taking credit for "Make America Great Again"--a slogan Ronald Reagan had used), fondness for attractive women, and thin skin. He was, for example, friendly with the Clintons until candidate Hillary seemed to blame his positions for the 2015 South Carolina church shooting. So the escalator ride down to his announcement was thoroughly planned, even inevitable. Other contributors include Katie Couric, David Cay Johnston, Glenn Beck, Ralph Nader, and Roger Stone. A more positive view of Donald Trump than most Americans have--though the text ends with the election.

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June 1, 2019
More than two years into Trump's presidency, it still seems to many that he just sprang fully fledged onto the political scene. In reality, running for president was something he had been considering since the late 1990s. After Trump's unexpected election in 2016, the public needed to learn if there was a difference between the persona and the person to determine if there was hypocrisy behind the hype. Veteran journalists Salkin and Short conducted candid and revelatory oral history interviews with 100 people, both on the periphery and at the center of Trump World, and those enabled them to chronicle Trump's endeavors as a business man, reality-TV host, and politician who became president without any prior governing experience. With complementary and contradictory views offered regarding the same occurrence, what emerges from these disparate voices is a deeper understanding of the fact that the Trump presidency was not a chimerical pursuit. With his 2020 re-election campaign underway, those who dismiss Trump as a one-hit wonder would do well to know the seriousness with which he pursued the previous campaign.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)