{"id":1174,"date":"2020-09-14T15:03:33","date_gmt":"2020-09-14T22:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/georgealfredkennedy.com\/blog\/?p=1174"},"modified":"2022-06-28T22:10:22","modified_gmt":"2022-06-29T05:10:22","slug":"donald-trump-v-the-united-states-inside-the-struggle-to-stop-a-president-by-michael-s-schmidt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/georgealfredkennedy.com\/blog\/donald-trump-v-the-united-states-inside-the-struggle-to-stop-a-president-by-michael-s-schmidt\/","title":{"rendered":"Donald Trump v. The United States by Michael S. Schmidt"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

George Alfred Kennedy<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some thoughts …<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love a good, content-rich publication written in easily-digestible prose that deepens my understanding of Trump\u2019s Washington, his vise-like grip on the current Republican Party \u2013 including Moscow Mitch McConnell, and Trump\u2019s blatant disregard for presidential norms, the Constitution, and America\u2019s democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Schmidt\u2019s \u201cDonald Trump v. The United States \u2013 Inside the Struggle to Stop A President\u201d <\/em>filled the bill for me. The book topped my September reading list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schmidt covers the presidency of the country\u2019s 45th<\/sup> chief executive with enough detail to answer the questions \u201cWhat is the back story?\u201d on this issue. \u201cWhat is the media not telling us about Trump\u2019s scandal-plagued Washington?\u201d Or Donald Trump\u2019s decision to fire FBI director James Comey that led to the appointment of special counsel Robert mueller. To this observer, Schmidt embodies the old-school reporter, the Woodward and Bernstein, who wore out the shoe leather. The quality I appreciated most about Schmidt is intrepidity. He sinks his teeth into an issue and then doggedly pursues the facts. You could call his approach \u201cBeginning where the other reporters end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDonald Trump v. The United States\u201d <\/em>is presented in the format of a journal. You know where you are and when, who\u2019s in the room, and why? And then there is follow up. You follow Schmidt\u2019s mindset: \u201cI understand now,\u201d or, \u201cthere must be more to this…who do I need to talk to? And, where do I find them?\u201d I like Schmidt\u2019s style because he writes the way I read: Get in the underbrush and report on what you find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us who tried to follow the Mueller investigation were baffled \u2013 no, disappointed \u2013 at Mueller\u2019s unwillingness to investigate if Donald Trump was a Russian agent occupying the Oval Office. Why did Mueller fail to investigate corruption in the Trump organization, and how it carried over into his White House? Also, why did Mueller close his investigation before Michael Flynn had been sentenced and Roger Stone had been tried? These actions were dissimilar to the actions of two of Mueller\u2019s predecessors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mueller, who had \u201ctestified before Congress more times than almost any other living American,\u201d was initially unwilling to testify before Congress. He had to be subpoenaed. Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schmidt helps us to put paid<\/em> to this ugly chapter in contemporary American presidential history \u2013 at least for the moment. The outcome of the 2020 November elections just may mark the launch of round two if there is a Presidential Review Commission established in a Democrat-controlled House of Representatives and answers may be provided to more unanswered questions. I agree \u201cDonald Trump v. The United States\u201d is vital journalism. Read this book.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some thoughts … I love a good, content-rich publication written in easily-digestible prose that deepens my understanding of Trump\u2019s Washington, his vise-like grip on the current Republican Party \u2013 including…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1176,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[45,34,35],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1174","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-book-review","8":"category-bookshelf","9":"category-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgealfredkennedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgealfredkennedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgealfredkennedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgealfredkennedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgealfredkennedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1174"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/georgealfredkennedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1245,"href":"https:\/\/georgealfredkennedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1174\/revisions\/1245"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgealfredkennedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgealfredkennedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgealfredkennedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgealfredkennedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}