The American footprint | Six books to understand the politics of our neighbors

With less than a month before the American presidential election, our columnists suggest books to get your teeth into in order to prepare for these decisive elections for our neighbors to the South.

Ah, the 2008 campaign…

Game Change is THE best book on American politics, which can be devoured like a novel. Journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin take us behind the scenes of the 2008 presidential campaign, both the primaries and the campaign between Barack Obama and John McCain. The most interesting portion: the Obama-Clinton duel during the Democratic primaries. We forget today to what extent Hillary Clinton had an almost insurmountable lead for a good part of 2007. A chapter is also devoted to the controversial choice of Sarah Palin as Republican vice-presidential candidate (HBO has also made a film, Game Changeonly on this part of the book). By (re)reading this book, we are nostalgic for a time when facts had greater importance, where the divide was less, and where Donald Trump’s MAGA movement had not swallowed up the Republican Party.

Vincent Brousseau-Pouliot, The Press

Trump the illusionist

For decades, Donald Trump has projected the image of a self-made man billionaire who succeeded in business. Nothing is more false, demonstrate Lucky Loserthe newest book from the investigative journalists of the New York Times Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig. Although he had received the equivalent of $500 million in today’s dollars from his father, his business was going rather poorly when he received an offer in 2004 from NBC to host a new reality show. The producers of the show worked hard to project the image of a successful businessman. “Our job was to make it look legitimate, […] even though we all knew that was not the case,” confides one of the producers. We know the rest: The Apprentice was a huge success on TV, the show replenished Trump’s coffers and public image, and he entered politics.

Vincent Brousseau-Pouliot, The Press

Read a text from the authors of the book in the New York Times (in English)

Lucky Loser : How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success

Russ Buettner et Susanne Craig

Penguin Random House, 2024

528 pages

Damn cleavage

Do you find that American politicians are arguing more and more and that the gap between Democrats and Republicans is constantly growing? You’re not stupid. The United States (like many countries) is increasingly divided. We see it in politics, in the media and in society. With Why We’re Polarized, Ezra Klein, one of the best journalists in the United States, offers a fascinating – and a little frightening – analysis. The main problem: people increasingly define their identity based on their political beliefs. It makes discussions, compromises and living together more difficult. In the absence of a miracle solution, Ezra Klein offers some tips to apply in everyday life, such as not defining yourself primarily by your political beliefs and paying more attention to local issues, where you can make a bigger difference.

Vincent Brousseau-Pouliot, The Press

Why We’re Polizared

Ezra Klein

Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, 2021

352 pages

Trump 101, version Woodward

Of all the books Bob Woodward has written about the Trump era, his best is probably his first, titled Fear. This journalist was, with Carl Bernstein, the author of the explosive revelations on Watergate, which torpedoed the presidency of Richard Nixon. Since then, he has continued to investigate presidents by interviewing members of their entourage at length. Those of Donald Trump have not been kind to the president, described in this book as a narcissistic and angry incompetent. It was absolutely necessary to protect him against himself to prevent him from making mistakes with serious consequences. Such a man at the head of the world’s leading power? We end each chapter by pinching ourselves to make sure we’re not dreaming. Know that a new Woodward, titled Warwill be released on October 15. You can already add it to your list!

Alexandre Sirois, The Press

Fear: Trump in the White House

Bob Woodward

Threshold

526 pages

The truth about Harris

What do you know about Kamala Harris, who found herself overnight, a few weeks before an all-important presidential election, the Democratic Party’s candidate for the White House? Perhaps less than usual, because traditionally candidates must travel the country for months and submit to numerous questions from journalists and citizens. To compensate, the best thing is to read more about it. Starting with the biography written by a Californian journalist who covered his rise. We review her personal life, but also her good and bad times at all stages of her career (as a prosecutor and as a politician). And we recall that in California, which seems to be reflected in some of her recent public outings, she had the habit of “not taking a position when it was not politically necessary”.

Alexandre Sirois, The Press

Kamala Harris: From the streets of Oakland to the halls of the White House

Dan Morain

Talent editions

350 pages

Resist tyranny

“The danger that awaits us today is that of a passage […] from a naive and imperfect form of democratic republic to a confused and cynical form of fascist oligarchy,” writes American historian Timothy Snyder in his book Of tyranny. This specialist in Nazism and Stalinism published this short essay in 2017, in the wake of Donald Trump’s arrival at the White House. Included are 20 lessons for confronting authoritarianism, drawn from the experiences of those who have grappled with fascism and communism over the last century. For example: taking care of our language, defending institutions or even distinguishing ourselves (like Rosa Parks or Winston Churchill). This little book is precious at a time when many politicians around the world are becoming radicalized and when national populism is gaining popularity within several liberal democracies.

Alexandre Sirois, The Press

On tyranny: Twenty lessons from the 20th century^e century

Timothy Snyder

Gallimard

102 pages

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