Publishers Weekly
01/28/2019
Yes, President Trump is vulgar, petty, cruel, and occasionally incoherent, but he is also a political maestro with an impressive record in office who champions forgotten Americans, argues this enthusiastic apologia. Hanson (The Second World Wars), a Hoover Institution scholar of classics and military history and National Review columnist, credits Trump’s tax cuts, deregulation initiatives, and hard-line stances on trade and foreign policy with igniting an economic boom and advancing America’s national interests. Trump has also, he argues, revolutionized American politics with crude, blunt rhetoric and a populist vision that addresses the beleaguered white working class that feels threatened by globalization, mass immigration, and left-wing identity politics. Hanson is shrewd and insightful on Trump’s appeal—even the dyed hair and tan bespeak an endearing authenticity, he notes, “proof that even aging billionaires were patched-together, creaking everymen and insecure humans”—and on the disdain with which liberal (and Never-Trump Republican) politicians, media, and celebrities portray Trump’s supporters as bigots and losers. He’s less cogent when dubbing Trump a “tragic hero” like Achilles or Dirty Harry, and when he cursorily dismisses the importance of welfare initiatives like Obamacare to working-class people of all races. But this is one of the smartest conservative defenses of Trump yet published. Agents: Glen Hartley and Lynn Chu, Writers’ Representatives. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
"As a great historian, Victor Davis Hanson makes the case for President Trump with unique insights and historic understanding and clarity. A must-read for everyone who supports the President or wants to understand this moment in history."—Newt Gingrich
"I come across books now and then, and I heartily recommend those I really like. But I'm just flat-out telling you to get this one. If you believe in Donald Trump, if you believe in the whole 'Make America Great Again' agenda, if you want to read some of the most intelligent defense of Trump, the most intelligent defense and explanation of Trump's agenda...the book is tremendous.... If you love Trump and if you're looking for ways to help other people who don't understand Trump to understand, this book is gonna be ideal."—Rush Limbaugh
"A brilliant and bracing analysis from one of the great thinkers and writers of our time, and a farmer to boot - Victor Davis Hanson. Hanson understood the circumstances that gave rise to Donald Trump early on, how the president has made long overdue changes, and why his enemies seek to destroy him."—Mark R. Levin
"Hanson is shrewd and insightful on Trump's appeal... one of the smartest conservative defenses of Trump yet published."—Publishers Weekly
"A well-researched explanation of how Mr. Trump beat all odds to win the presidency, and also an account of his first two years in office."—Washington Times
"Hanson sets out calmly, cogently, urgently a corrective to the anti-Trump hysteria."—The Times (UK)
"A necessary and important addition to the already existing body of literature on why and how President Trump defeated first his Republican rivals and later Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton... a timely and revealing book."—Washington Book Review
