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by Reed Hundt (Author)
"The blow by blow story of a president and his team wasting the 'opportunity' of the Great Recession to change the fundamentals of the economy." --Steven Brill, New York Times-bestselling author
This book is the compelling story of President Obama's domestic policy decisions made between September 2008 and his inauguration on January 20, 2009. Barack Obama determined the fate of his presidency before he took office. His momentous decisions led to Donald Trump, for Obama the worst person imaginable, taking his place eight years later. This book describes these decisions and discusses how the results could have been different. Based on dozens of interviews with actors in the Obama transition, as well as the author's personal observations, this book provides unique commentary of those defining decisions of winter 2008-2009. A decade later, the ramifications of the Great Recession and the role of government in addressing the crisis animate the ideological battle between progressivism and neoliberalism in the Democratic Party and the radical direction of the Republican Party. As many seek the presidency in the November 2020 election, all candidates and of course the eventual winner will face decisions that may be as critical and difficult as those confronted by Barack Obama. This book aims to provide the guidance of history. "A powerfully lucid, compelling and surprising achievement . . . makes a subtle but irresistible argument that, given the conservative undertow of American politics, liberals and progressives who are serious about change can't just wing it but must prepare detailed economic policy analyses and prescriptions long in advance of taking power." --Congressman Jamie Raskin, Representative from Maryland's 8th DistrictAuthor Biography
Reed Hundt was a member of the transition teams for the Clinton and Obama presidencies. He was the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission in 1993-97. He has written four books, taught at Yale College, Law School, and School of Management, practiced law in California and Washington, DC, started for-profit and non-profit firms, served as a board member for numerous technology and communications firms, and raised a family with his wife Betsy in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He is the author of You Say You Want a Revolutionand In China's Shadow.
