Trumpocalypse: Restoring American Democracy

by David Frum

Overview

"I don't take responsibility at all." Those words of Donald Trump at a March 13, 2020, press conference are likely to be history's epitaph on his presidency.

 A huge swath of Americans has put their faith in Trump, and Trump only, because they see the rest of the country building a future that doesn’t have a place for them. 

If they would risk their lives for Trump in a pandemic, they will certainly risk the stability of American democracy. They brought the Trumpocalypse upon the country, and a post-Trumpocalypse country will have to find a way either to reconcile them to democracy - or to protect democracy from them.

In Trumpocalypse, David Frum looks at what happens when a third of the electorate refuses to abandon Donald Trump, no matter what he does. Those voters aren’t looking for policy wins. They’re seeking cultural revenge.

It is not enough to defeat Donald Trump on election day 2020. Even if Trump peacefully departs office, the trauma he inflicted will distort American and world politics for years to come. Americans must start from where they are, build from what they have, to repair the damage Trump inflicted on the country, to amend the wrongs that, under Trump, they inflicted upon each other.

Americans can do better. David Frum shows how—and inspires all readers of all points of view to believe again in the possibilities of American life. Trumpocalypse is both a warning of danger and a guide to reform that will be read and discussed for years to come.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062978417
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	05/26/2020
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	137,563
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

David Frum is a senior editor at the Atlantic and the author of nine books, including the New York Times bestseller Trumpocracy. From 2001 to 2002, he served as a speechwriter and special assistant to President George W. Bush. He and his wife, Danielle Crittenden Frum, live in Washington, DC, and Wellington, Ontario. They have three children.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part I The Reckoning

Chapter 1 The Smash-Up 15

Chapter 2 The Wall of Impunity 42

Chapter 3 World War Trump 58

Chapter 4 White Terror 79

Chapter 5 "Real" versus "Unreal" Americans 108

Chapter 6 The Deep State Lie 133

Chapter 7 How to Lose to Trump 159

Part II A New Age of Reform

Chapter 8 Unrigging the System 175

Chapter 9 Uniting "Us" and "Them" 193

Chapter 10 Greener Planet, Better Jobs 222

Chapter 11 Great Again 257

Chapter 12 Against Revenge 276

Acknowledgments 307

Endnotes 311

Editorial Reviews

…Frum's intellectual journey is what makes this book so fascinating. He can look at our current condition with fresh eyes, earned through humiliating experience. It is a humility to which the rest of us should aspire…[Frum] has done something crucial: He has recognized that a new national conversation is coming, and, with Trumpocalypse, he has provided a thoughtful way to start it.

The New York Times Book Review - Joe Klein

03/30/2020

Atlantic writer Frum follows Trumpocracy (2018) with a brisk and carefully reasoned guide to “protect the American constitutional system from Trump and after Trump.” After rehashing the damage Trumpism has already caused or exacerbated, including congressional dysfunction, the undermining of U.S. foreign relations, and the resurgence of white supremacy, Frum argues that to win in the 2020 elections and beyond, progressives need to back moderate candidates who can find common ground with conservative voters. Once in office, Democrats should, according to Frum, do away with the congressional filibuster, confer statehood to Washington, D.C., “deter gerrymandering,” and pass legislation requiring future presidential candidates to make their tax returns public. He also suggests that by curtailing undocumented immigration, Democrats can “solidif a sense of national belonging” and improve their chances of passing healthcare reforms. He advises liberals to stop attacking the fossil fuel industry for causing climate change, and instead offer solutions “based on social consensus,” such as carbon taxes, solar energy, and wind farms. Frum’s caustic treatment of “Woke messaging” will grate on committed leftists, but he presents a cogent argument for taking the middle path to electoral and legislative victory. Democrats debating how best to beat Trump should consider this well-informed directive. Agent: Jay Mandel, William Morris Endeavor. (May)

Publishers Weekly

2020-03-15
Following up Trumpocracy (2018), Frum looks at the Trump administration’s effect on the country and the possible consequences of the 2020 election.

In his previous book, the author, a speechwriter and special assistant to George W. Bush and now a staff writer for the Atlantic, showed how the Trump campaign and administration had already seriously damaged American institutions during his first year in office. Here, Frum uses his powers of analysis—and his outrage—to flesh out the myriad examples of what he considers to be a toxic combination of perfidy and stupidity. This includes Trump’s relentless bullying of individuals, groups, and countries; his poorly conceived foreign policy via Twitter; his threats to unleash his rabid followers on a supposedly disloyal electorate; and, above all, his harm to American judicial and security agencies. Still, the author has hopes for a brighter, Trump-free future. Examining elements of social reform, health care, and climate change, Frum lays out potential solutions that are surprisingly progressive, especially for a self-styled conservative. His political swing from loyal Republican to independent thinker is, he asserts, shared by others. “Former allies find themselves at dagger’s point; former adversaries find more in common,” he writes. “It’s much more likely that George W. Bush and Barack Obama will vote for the same candidate in 2020 than it is that George W. Bush and Donald Trump will vote for the same candidate.” This is a thoughtful analysis of current troubles and future opportunities, but it will interest only those who aren’t sated by the constant analysis offered by newspapers and cable TV. While Frum is more eloquent than many, he covers much of the same ground, and his suggested policy points, though interesting, are a relatively small part of the book.

A must-read for political junkies but not compelling enough for the large, but exhausted, population of never-Trumpers.

Kirkus Reviews

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