Since the 2016 election, citizens of the United States have been confronted with how our institutions failure to act and protect us from the slide towards authoritarianism. Certain voices on the left have been warning and continue to warn us about the march away from democracy. No one has been more prescient than Sarah Kendzior. I’ve followed Ms. Kendzior on twitter for a while, and I purchased a copy of her first book, A View from Flyover Country (purchased from Left Bank Books, please, think about supporting them). I read a couple of essays and then got distracted. It still sits on my shelf. But I follow her on twitter and started listening to her podcast, Gaslit Nation. The time I began listening coincided with the consistent anxiety attacks I was having. The podcast terrified me. I wasn’t ready yet to see the truth about who and what truly governs my nation. While I had to take a break from the podcast, I’ll go back. In the meantime, her twitter provides constant, consistent analysis, unfiltered by rosy optimism. When the chance to review her newest book, Hiding in Plain Sight, I jumped on it. I devoured this book. Unlike other books about Trump’s political career, she claims that his ambitions began long ago in the far off 1980s. Ms. Kendzior shows how Trump has been at the fringes of the American consciousness for the whole of her life. Kendzior documents how slowly corruption increased in all levels of government and how Trump has always surrounded himself with shady characters. Finally, the corruption and shady actors unite such that Trump ends up being the most corrupt president in U.S. history. Hiding in Plain Sight should be required reading for anyone thinking of voting in 2020’s national election.
TL;DR
Sarah Kendzior’s Hiding in Plain Sight is beautifully written, thoroughly researched, and absolutely terrifying. Highly recommended.
From the Publisher
New York Times bestselling author Sarah Kendzior documents the truth about the calculated rise to power of Donald Trump since the 1980s and how the erosion of our liberties made an American demagogue possible.
The story of Donald Trump’s rise to power is the story of a buried American history – buried because people in power liked it that way. It was visible without being seen, influential without being named, ubiquitous without being overt.
Sarah Kendzior’s Hiding in Plain Sight pulls back the veil on a history spanning decades, a history of an American autocrat in the making. In doing so, she reveals the inherent fragility of American democracy – how our continual loss of freedom, the rise of consolidated corruption, and the secrets behind a burgeoning autocratic United States have been hiding in plain sight for decades.
In Kendzior’s signature and celebrated style, she expertly outlines Trump’s meteoric rise from the 1980s until today, interlinking key moments of his life with the degradation of the American political system and the continual erosion of our civil liberties by foreign powers. Kendzior also offers a never-before-seen look at her lifelong tendency to be in the wrong place at the wrong time – living in New York through 9/11 and in St. Louis during the Ferguson uprising, and researching media and authoritarianism when Trump emerged using the same tactics as the post-Soviet dictatorships she had long studied.
It is a terrible feeling to sense a threat coming, but it is worse when we let apathy, doubt, and fear prevent us from preparing ourselves. Hiding in Plain Sight confronts the injustice we have too long ignored because the truth is the only way forward.
Review: Hiding in Plain Sight
Sarah Kendzior loves the United States of America. It’s very evident from Hiding in Plain Sight. This book is part autobiography, part political treatise, and part love letter to a dying America. From the first chapter set in Missouri to the last, Ms. Kendzior interweaves the story of her life with that of Donald Trump. He’s been on the edges of the media since the 1980s as a side show clown, but Ms. Kendzior shows that was just the media persona. Quickly, she jumps into Trump’s mentor, Roy Cohn, and the type of individuals that Trump surrounds himself with. It’s here that she begins to connect Trump to Russia. But these aren’t the half baked conspiracy theories about Russia that float around twitter. Kendzior has the receipts, and the reader can find them in the back of the book. Long has she claimed that Trump has been contemplating a political career for most of his life, and, again, she brought the receipts to back up this claim.1 She carries on through the 2000s and the economic misery during the aftermath of the 2008 crash. Once again, Kendzior uses St. Louis to show how the reality of the ‘news’ didn’t reflect the reality of the people in the city.
Kendzior’s analysis of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump as national security threats is spot on in my opinion. While I’d see a little here and there, Kendzior brought the whole picture together in a way that is, frankly, terrifying. I’ve gone through the process to get a security clearance, and if I’d have done what Jared did, I’d be flagged for further investigation and not granted clearance. His father commited one of the “most loathsome, disgusting crimes” that Chris Christie prosecuted. Hiding in Plain Sight is worth the price just to learn all about what type of person Kushner is.
Finally, Kendzior ends the book by talking about the need to show her kids the U.S. She talks about driving around Missouri and the rest of the nation. Her goal is to show her children America as it is. But this isn’t a hopeful ending. Ms. Kendzior is clear that hope isn’t her thing. Instead, she is seeking reminders of the nation as it is today. She is seeking reminders of what we fight for when we fight for a better future for those that come after us. No, the book doesn’t end on hope. Instead, the ending feels like the beginning of a bigger story. If this were a movie, the final scene would be Kendzior gearing up for war, painting her face, and tying a bandana around her head while uttering the very last line of the book. And no I’m not going to put it here, if you’re curious, buy the book.
My Obsession with Chapter One
I loved the whole book, but chapter one holds a special place in my heart. Like Ms. Kendzior, I am not a Missouri native, but I’ve spent over half my life living in this state. I’ve come to appreciate just how interesting Missouri really is. Although my appearance looks like a typical red state voter, I’m pretty liberal by U.S. standards. I’ve watched over the years as the Midwest has been ignored by national politicians and only given media attention during riots or disasters. I’ve also watched Missouri vote in corrupt politicians who enact laws that let the state slide farther down the political extreme scale. Missouri’s campaign contribution laws basically are a free for all to buy elections. In 2018, the people of Missouri voted for a lot of progressive initiatives like an anti-gerrymandering commission and legalizing marijuana. These ballot measures received broad bipartisan support among conservative and liberal voters. Yet for this same election, they overwhelmingly elected candidates who oppose each measure passed.
All of this is to say that Missouri is a complicated state. Reading this chapter made Missouri feel relevant in ways that it hadn’t in years. Kendzior writes with passion about the history of the state, of her decision to move here, of her decision to stay, of friends, of politics. With love in her heart, she writes beautifully about the state. But she doesn’t spare the state because of that love. She has no problem pointing out problems like “the Workhouse,” Eric Greitens avoidance of prosecution, and, of course, the Ferguson aftermath. (Though Ferguson gets a more in-depth treatment later in the book.) The way that Ms. Kendzior writes about Missouri here is a way that I don’t see anymore. I appreciate that someone writing for the national audience sees the people of Missouri for who we are. Even if we’re not as great as we once were.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Sarah Kendzior’s Hiding in Plain Sight should be required reading prior to the 2020 election. It shows the decline of American politics into the corruption that inhabits the Oval Office today. This is not a hopeful book, but it forces us to confront the reality of what’s going on in U.S. politics. By giving us a clear eyed view of what we’re up against, Sarah Kendzior has given us cause to continue the fight.
Hiding in Plain Sight by Sarah Kendzior is available from Flatiron Books on 04/07/2020.
9 out of 10!
- To be fair, I didn’t believe her claim when reading it on twitter. But the book links to other evidence. So, now, I believe her. Sorry, Sarah. Click here to return.