Original Sin: President Biden's decline, its cover-up, and his disastrous choice to run again

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Description

In Greek tragedy, the protagonist's effort to avoid his fate is what seals his fate. In 2024, American politics became a Greek tragedy. Joe Biden launched his 2020 bid for the White House with the stated goal of saving the nation from a second Trump term. He, his family and his senior aides were so convinced that only he could beat Trump again that they lied to themselves, allies and the public about his condition and limitations - all but dooming the Democrats to defeat later that year. Here, two of America's best-respected political journalists take us behind closed doors to reveal the full, unsettling truth about Biden's decline. They expose the wider cover-up as an act of unprecedented public deception, raising fundamental issues of accountability and responsibility that will endure for decades. Biden's decision to run again was the original sin of his presidency - the moment that led directly to Donald Trump's return to power and all that has come since.

Reviews

Damning and well-documented. * TELEGRAPH *
A scathing account of an elderly, egotistical president cocooned from reality seeking re-election in 2024 despite significant concerns about his declining health and cognitive abilities. * GUARDIAN *
Tapper and Thompson's portrait of a decrepit American president is devastating... Original Sin succeeds because it has a strong thesis and an arresting narrative, delivered in made-for-TV episodes. * FINANCIAL TIMES *
A fascinating insight... this book shines a blinding light on the extent to which Joe Biden was ageing rapidly, becoming tired and confused and patently unfit for a second term in office. * iNEWS *
Explosive . . . Tapper and Thompson have done the [Democratic] party a favor. Some sort of reckoning is due for the disastrous missteps that that paved the way for Trumps return. * MICHELLE GOLDBERG, co-author of POLITICAL CORRECTNESS *
[The] most significant book to date about Bidens cognitive decline. * ATLANTIC *
Superbly reported . . . Reads like a Shakespearean drama on steroids. * LOS ANGELES TIMES *
Original Sin is not really a 'campaign book'its account of the 2024 election largely ends after Biden drops outbut its simple assessment of the race is more compelling than anything else Ive read about it . . . Original Sin is rarely better than when Tapper and Thompson are writingwith extensive reporting and clear-eyed proseabout the disaster that Biden caused . . . Over the next year, dozens of books will appear that attempt to explain this election. Its hard to imagine any doing better than that. * WASHINGTON POST *
A damning, step-by-step account of how the people closest to a stubborn, ageing president enabled his quixotic resolve to run for a second term. * NEW YORKER *
Original Sin is a comprehensively sourced autopsy of the agonised end to Bidens 50-year career. Its accusatory, indignant, righteous and convincing. * NEW STATESMAN *

Author Bio

Jake Tapper (Author) Jake Tapper is the chief Washington correspondent for CNN. An Emmy Award-winning TV journalist and twice New York Times-bestselling novelist, in 2024 he chaired the Trump-Biden debate that began the unravelling of the president's re-election campaign. A Dartmouth graduate and Philadelphia native, he lives in Washington, DC with his family. Alex Thompson is a national political correspondent for Axios and a CNN contributor. Before that, he created Politico's West Wing Playbook newsletter and worked at the New York Times and Vice News. A Harvard graduate, he lives in Washington, DC.