Thank You For Your Servitude: Donald Trump's Washington and the Price of Submission

(Hardback)

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The #1 New York Times Bestseller "He's one of the best chroniclers of politics today." -Jake Tapper "This is a really funny book." -Kara Swisher "His writing is so damn good." -John Berman "Really fascinating...There are so many revelations." -Anderson Cooper "The new must read summer book." -Stephanie Ruhle From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller This Town, the eyewitness account of how the GOP collaborated with Donald Trump to transform Washington's "swamp" into a gold-plated hot tub-and a onetime party of rugged individualists into a sycophantic personality cult. In the early months of Trump's candidacy, the Republican Party's most important figures, people such as Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Lindsey Graham, were united-and loud-in their scorn and contempt. Even more, in their outrage- Trump was a menace and an affront to our democracy. Then, awkwardly, Trump won. Thank You for Your Servitude is Mark Leibovich's unflinching account of the moral rout of a major American political party, tracking the transformation of Rubio, Cruz, Graham, and their ilk into the administration's chief enablers, and the swamp's lesser lights into frantic chasers of the grift. What would these politicos do to preserve their place in the sun, or at least the orbit of the spray tan What would they do to preserve their "relevance" Almost anything, it turns out. Trump's savage bullying of everyone in his circle, along with his singular command of his political base, created a dangerous culture of submission in the Republican Party. Meanwhile, many of the most alpha of the lapdogs happily conceded to Mark Leibovich that they were "in on the joke." As Lindsey Graham told the author, his supporters in South Carolina generally don't read The New York Times, and they won't read this book, either. All that cynicism, shading into nihilism, led to a country truly unhinged from reality, and to the events of January 6, 2021. It's a vista that makes the Washington of This Town seem like a comedy of manners in comparison. Thank You for Your Servitude isn't another view from the Oval Office- it's the view from the Trump Hotel. We can check out any time we want, but only time will tell if we can ever leave.

Reviews

The author couldnt repeat the formula he used to such entertaining effect in his 2013 book, This Town . . . Instead, Leibovichs new book ingeniously shifts the focus. . . extremely funny in spots, although much of the humor has a whistling-past-the-graveyard quality. Like the Comedian in Alan Moores graphic novel Watchmen, Leibovich was shocked out of his previous cynicism and absurdism(to some extent at least) by the enormity of Trumps threat. New York Times Book Review

[Leibovich is] just so good at this. He is a world-class ranter, continuing an American tradition that includes such dyspeptic luminaries as H.L. Mencken, Hunter S. Thompson and P.J. ORourke . . . [He is] a brilliant interviewer able to wheedle not-quite-admissions from his subjects, who give him all the access in the world. Washington Post

The main attraction to Leibovich's work is his wicked satirical talent. He comes at his interviewees with a skewer in one hand, a scalpel in the other and a glint in his eye. His frequent eviscerations of major figures range from subtle to scabrous . . . [T]he material in Thank You is new, much of it from interviews done since the 2020 election . . . Thank You should not be mistaken for a fun readas This Town was often described . . . Thank You is on another plane of warning and foreboding. There are many laughs, to be sure, but with bitter aftertaste. And the message here, the final word, is anything but fun. NPR.org

A fascinating account . . . The greatest value of Thank You For Your Servitude is Leibovichs ability to understand the startling motivations of members of the House and Senate and many White House advisers and aides. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Author Bio

Mark Leibovichis arecipient of the National Magazine Award for profile writing. He is the author of four books, including the number oneNew York TimesbestsellerThis Town, about the political culture of twenty-first-century Washington, D.C. He recently joinedThe Atlantic, after a ten-year stint as chief national correspondent forThe New York Times Magazine. Before arriving at themagazine in 2012, Leibovich covered national politics in theTimes'Washington Bureau. He previously worked atTheWashington Postand theSan Jose Mercury News.He lives with his family in Washington, D.C.