Democracy Awakening by Heather Cox Richardson

One of my friends introduced me to Heather Cox Richardson a couple of years ago and I have become one of her most ardent fans. Her Letters from an American each morning is one piece to which I look forward before doing most anything else. I was ecstatic when it was announced that she would be speaking at the Ten Evenings programs of Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures. 

Democracy Awakening is a fascinating history of the United States in terms of how we have viewed and practiced democracy since the Founding Fathers gathered all their thoughts and expressed them in the documents that have formed the basis of our laws and culture. She contends that throughout our history there have been crossroads between authoritarianism and pluralism. As we approach this Presidential election, it has become even more obvious and she feels that we are "teetering on the brink" of authoritarianism if the election of Republicans comes to pass. 

Richardson is a scholar and professor of U.S. History at Boston University. Her research for this book traces the rise in the right wing ideology back to the New Deal of the 1930s through the Nixon presidency, Reagan and most recently most outstandingly personified by Donald Trump. There are no fewer than 10 chapters that delineate how he has moved to secure the position which sets him in direct comparison to the leaders of European fascism and Nazi Germany. She describes how in his term as President, one of the first actions were executive orders that began to dismantle the government and install his cronies and family members into interim positions to avoid needing Congressional approval. Of course his installing 3 ultra conservatives on the Supreme court has lead to the repeal of Roe v. Wade and the eradication of a women's right to have control over health decisions. 

Richardson has such an incredible way of writing that is learned and academic, but truly understandable by the non-academic. Her explanations illustrate give the lay reader a means to understand not only the past, but also the what is happening now and how we need to heed the warning signs that have been posted by the vile rhetoric of the evangelical conservative wing of the Republican Party. A must read for every citizen who does not want to be accused of having his or her head buried in the sand. 

I cannot wait to hear her speak.