I can’t believe I read this book by Liz Cheney.
Surprisingly enough, I’m not even saying that because it was a bad book. It wasn’t.
It’s just that I’ve always loathed everything Dick Cheney has ever stood for, and his daughter, for the most part, has not been much better.
And I have not been one of those Democrats to laud Liz* as some sort of savior of democracy just because she’s one of the few sane Republicans left willing to keep saying what everyone was saying on January 6th: that Donald Trump committed treason and should have been held accountable for it.
I also feel like I’ve read enough books about Trump and politics lately. There have been countless books covering him and his so-called “presidency,” and I read a couple of the more famous ones, especially early on, but eventually I had to admit there was no way I could keep up with it all, so I gave up entirely.
So I had absolutely no intention of reading this book.
Then Liz went on The View to promote her book, and Whoopi Goldberg and Sunny Hostin both said they were surprised at how much they had in common with Liz when they read the book. They also both said it was one of the best books they’ve ever read.
I know they both read a lot, and I know they’re not fans of Liz’s work because every time her name comes up on the show, Sunny reminds us all that Liz voted with Trump 93% of the time when he was in office. And she voted for him in 2016 and 2020. So if all that was true and they were both still recommending this book, I figured it was worth checking out.
I listened to the audiobook, which Liz narrates herself, and I do always appreciate listening to memoirs narrated by the author, even if narration isn’t their strong suit, as is the case here.
To be clear, the book is not a memoir of Liz’s life. It starts right before the attempted insurrection on January 6th and concludes with the conclusion of her time in Congress.
I certainly found it interesting to get that perspective on the events of the day. Obviously we’ve all heard snippets and pull quotes from other members of Congress who were there that day, but I had never heard a Congressional representative describe what they went through from the beginning of the day to the end.
It was also interesting to read that Congress members apparently have gas masks under their seats, and no one knew about this until security told them as the building was being breached.
Liz was one of the people who recognized how high tensions were getting before she went in to affirm the results of the presidential election, and realized there might be violence. Her dad warned her to be safe, and she made sure she had extra security with her that day.
What I appreciated about this book was the fact that it talked about how people like Jim Jordan helped whip Trump supporters into a frenzy, then once the mob started to attack the Capitol building, tried to act all chivalrous by saying they should get the women out first.
According to Liz, Jim Jordan offered to help her up from her seat, but she slapped his hand away, swore at him, and reminded him he was responsible for this, and that’s the kind of thing I really appreciate about Liz, and about reading this book.
Since the book has the benefit of hindsight, Liz was able to talk about some of the conversations members of Congress were having with Trump over the phone and via text while everything was going down at the Capitol. Conversations that later became evidence in the January 6th hearings to contradict his assertions he didn’t know what was going on.
I think by now most of us have heard the story of Trump physically assaulting his Secret Service agents and trying to take control of the vehicle when they refused to take him to the Capitol building from the rally on January 6th. Turns out they got that testimony thanks to some of Liz’s connections.
Because her dad was Vice President for 8 years, not only did he have Secret Service protection, but so did his family, including Liz, who is apparently still in touch with certain members of the Secret Service. That’s how she was able to get information on what current Secret Service members were dealing with on January 6th.
Don’t get me wrong. I really do appreciate everything Liz did to try to protect our democracy. And I appreciate that she did so knowing it would probably cost her her seat in Congress. I especially appreciate her willingness to call out the hypocrisy of members of her own party who tell her in private that they agreed with her, but publicly they would say the January 6th rioters were nothing more than tourists.
Nevertheless, despite how hard Liz tries to paint both herself and her father as stalwart defenders of democracy, I can’t forget the damage Dick inflicted on our democracy.
It was Dick Cheney and George W. Bush who ordered the halt of the recount of the votes in Florida on questionable grounds, and I still can’t believe the Supreme Court let them get away with that. So, while I’m glad that Trump was too dumb to be able to steal and election, I’m not going to forget that Bush and Dick successfully stole their election.
I’m also not going to forget that Dick worked for the man who said, “When the president does it, that means it is not illegal.”
As Vice President, Dick worked very hard (and in many places succeeded) in revitalizing Nixon’s idea of the presidency. That means I can’t take Dick seriously when he condemns Trump for saying the exact same thing.
I don’t really want to end this review on a sour note, because, on the whole, I did like this book. I just wish Liz had been more realistic about her father’s selective views on democracy.
*I normally refer to the author of the books I review by their last name, but due to the fact that this author’s father is at least as famous as she is, if not more so, I’m choosing to stick with her first name for this review.