Fight Inside the wildest battle for the White House

Jonathan Allen

Book - 2025

"It was the election America dreaded, a rematch between the two oldest men to serve as president. But somewhere along the way, the 2024 battle for the White House became the most jaw-dropping, heart-pounding, head-turning contest in American history. The ride was so wild that it forced a sitting president to drop his re-election bid, a once and future president to survive felony convictions and a would-be assassin's bullet, and a vice president, unexpectedly thrust into the arena, to mount an unprecedented 107-day campaign to lead the free world. Fight is the backstage story of bloodsport politics in its rawest form -- the clawing, backstabbing, and rabble-rousing that drove Donald Trump into the White House and Democrats into the... wilderness. At every turn, the combatants went for the jugular, whether they were facing down rivals in the other party or their own. Bestselling authors Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes give readers their first graphic view of the characters, their motivations, and their innermost thoughts as they battled to claim the ultimate prize and define a political era. Based on real-time interviews with more than 150 insiders -- from the Trump, Harris, and Biden inner circles, as well as party leaders and operatives -- Fight delivers the vivid and stunning tale of an election unlike any other. In the end, Trump overcame voters' concerns about his personal flaws by tapping into a deep vein of dissatisfaction with the direction of the country. At the same time, Democrats struggled to connect with an electorate that felt gaslit by Biden's insistence that he had delivered economic prosperity -- and his pledge to be a "bridge" president. He tore his party asunder, leaving destroyed personal relationships in his wake, as he clung to power. And when he gave it up, he kneecapped Harris by demanding unprecedented loyalty from her. [...] Allen and Parnes [...] provide readers with a skeleton key to the rooms where it all happened, revealing a story more shocking than previously reported."--HarperCollins website.

Saved in:
2 being processed

Bookmobile Nonfiction Show me where

324.973/Allen
1 / 1 copies available

2nd Floor New Shelf Show me where

324.973/Allen
1 / 2 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
Bookmobile Nonfiction 324.973/Allen Checked In
2nd Floor New Shelf 324.973/Allen (NEW SHELF) Due Aug 5, 2025
2nd Floor New Shelf 324.973/Allen (NEW SHELF) Checked In
Subjects
Published
New York, NY : William Morrow & Company, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers [2025]
Language
English
Main Author
Jonathan Allen (author)
Other Authors
Amie Parnes (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
339 pages ; 23 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN
9780063438644
  • Part I. The Unmaking of the President
  • Chapter 1. "The Quiet Part Out Loud"
  • Chapter 2. Contingency Plans
  • Chapter 3. "Keep Fighting"
  • Chapter 4. "An Episode or a Condition"
  • Chapter 5. The Ace in the Hole
  • Chapter 6. Et Tu, Nancy?
  • Chapter 7. "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
  • Chapter 8. A Very Important Phone Call
  • Chapter 9. "Karaoke at the End of the World"
  • Part II. What it Took
  • Chapter 10. "You Need to Endorse Me"
  • Chapter 11. Fuckery
  • Chapter 12. Mar-a-Lago vs. Kamalot
  • Chapter 13. "No Daylight, Kid"
  • Chapter 14. Mothafucka
  • Chapter 15. The Turn
  • Chapter 16. Texas Hold 'Em
  • Chapter 17. Garbage Time
  • Chapter 18. "Just Take the 270"
  • Epilogue: The Aftermath
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
Review by Kirkus Book Review

The unmaking of the president. Joe Biden fans will find this one tough to take. In Allen and Parnes' account, Biden's "naked egotism" spoiled the Democrats' chances to beat Republican Donald Trump. The 46th president's "original sin" was seeking reelection in his 80s, a party insider tells the co-authors. After his disastrous debate against Trump, Biden compounded the Dems' problems by waiting weeks to leave the race. "In both cases," the authors write, "he misread the writing on the wall." The seasoned Washington reporters toggle between the parties, a sensible approach that feels fresh amid a sustained onslaught of Trump-centric books. Though their chapters about Trump's running-mate search, his entreaties to Gen Z bros, and the two attempts on his life aren't revelatory, they pen a fascinating postmortem of Biden's campaign. His team routinely kept him distant from voters, making his halting debate performance even more startling. Afterward, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "began to think that the country needed to be saved notby Biden, butfrom him," they write. Barack Obama, meanwhile, favored a "mini-primary" to replace Biden. This was "Obama's way of trying to kneecap" Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he, like Pelosi, didn't want atop the ticket. Yet Biden, who "resented" Obama's support of Hillary Clinton over him in the 2016 Democratic race, endorsed Harris as his successor, in part "to stick it to Obama," a party insider says. Once nominated, Harris didn't adequately explain "her reason for running," the authors argue, deferring to Biden's "admonition" that she shouldn't distance herself from his administration. Allen and Parnes aren't above lazy sexism, invokingMean Girls to pigeonhole an assertive woman and to note that Pelosi's bra strap was showing during a TV appearance. But they deliver a riveting narrative of a crucial power struggle. Dishy scoops fuel a comprehensive account of a historic election. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.