Demagogue

In an age when we see the resurrection of Senator Joe McCarthy's tactics -- exaggeration and lies, guilt by association, the smearing of political opponents, and above all the acquiescence of enablers who know better -- Larry Tye's Demagogue is a gripping, essential read. Drawing on records newly unsealed after sixty years, Tye explains how McCarthy's fear-mongering caught fire, offering timely insight into the rise of bullies and what is required to defeat them. --Samantha Power, former US ambassador to the United Nations and New York Times bestselling author of The Education of an Idealist Larry Tye's Demagogue nails the defining biography of Joe McCarthy. I grew up a Cold War kid watching it all on television. I thought I knew it all, but Tye makes it real. To understand Donald Trump, you have to understand Joe McCarthy first, and Tye's your guide. --John Kerry, former Secretary of State Tye has written a fabulous, can't-put-down examination of one of the most dangerous politicians in American history. But Demagogue is more than a biography--it's a warning of the peril we are facing. -- William Cohen, former Secretary of Defense Tye takes us, step by step, as one of America's most dangerous right-wing populists learns how to use fear and deception to vault his way into power and threaten our country's most basic rights. The lessons for today are all too clear. --Steven Levitsky, coauthor of How Democracies Die Fueled by a trove of newly uncovered documents, Larry Tye charts the legacy of Joe McCarthy, reviled master of the political smear, through the malign tutelage of McCarthy henchman Roy Cohn and directly to Donald J. Trump. A must read. --Richard Ben-Veniste, Assistant Watergate Special Prosecutor and author of The Emperor's New Clothes Larry Tye's deeply reported Demagogue accomplishes two essential tasks at once. As first-rate biographies do, it lifts Joe McCarthy from stereotype to vivid flesh, while also using the past to illuminate the present. --David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Good American Family: The Red Scare and My Father