First published 2013
Joe Scarborough traces the Republican Party's journey from near extinction after Lyndon Johnson's 1964 victory to four decades of dominance, then back to decline. The MSNBC host and former GOP congressman argues that principled pragmatism made leaders like Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan successful. Eisenhower refused to let perfection destroy progress. Reagan combined charisma with practical politics. Both men held core conservative values while remaining flexible on tactics. Scarborough contends that today's Republicans have abandoned this winning formula. Political stubbornness now threatens to make the party a permanent minority. The book spans from the Voting Rights Act passage in 1965, when liberalism peaked, through Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, when national disillusionment set in. Scarborough blends political history with sharp analysis and direct commentary. He calls for Republicans to recover the realistic approach that once brought victory after victory. The book serves as both a wake up call and a practical guide for conservative renewal.
Genres: political-science, politics, united-states, biography-memoir, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-perspective, political-commentary
Setting: United States
Period: 1964, 1965, Hurricane Katrina
224 pages · Hardcover · Random House