Thank you St. Martin’s Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. No review was required in return for an advance reading copy and no review was promised.
Mr. Book just finished The Longest Con: How Grifters, Swindlers, and Frauds Hijacked American Conservatism by Joe Conason.
I’ve been a fan of Conason’s writing ever since I originally found his work during the George W. Bush administration. So, I was very excited to see that he is having a new book come out. I came into reading this with very high expectations and the book definitely lived up to them.
The thesis of this book is how the conservative movement, and the Republican party, has turned into one big con game. As Conason does a great job showing, it didn’t just start with Trump. Trump is just another datapoint, albeit a very huge one, in an ongoing tale that has lasted decades.
The Longest Con traces it all back to the early 1950s, with Roy Cohen: the infamous lawyer who also became Trump’s mentor.
One of the highlights of the book was the discussion anticommunism movement and it shows its connections to profit motives and religious groups. As one state Attorney General noted, “No wonder this whole movement has been called ‘Patriotism for Profit.’”
One of the most fascinating revelations of the book was how the exposure of Richard Nixon’s corruptions actually made him more popular among many right-wingers and authorities. Ass veteran activist said “If I’d known he’d been up to all that stuff, I’d have been for Nixon all along. I didn’t like Nixon until Watergate.”
Another big highlight of the book was the discussion of the Reagan years, especially the focus on all of the corruption. More than 200 members of the Reagan administration came under ethical or criminal investigation, with 38 indictments. By comparison: 28 members of the Nixon administration were indicted for Watergate, while Clinton’s administration resulted in just two, with none under Obama. And, as Conason points out, while Iran-Contra was the biggest scandal of the administration, there were others that cost the American taxpayers a lot more money. As P.J. O’Rourke summed up the Reagan years, “Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work—and then they get elected and prove it.” But, what Conason adds is this is al of their plan to enrich personal profit and power.
The discussion of the infamous Bush 43 administration, as well as the conservative movement during those years was also one of the highlights of the book. While he’s been overshadowed by the scandals and crimes of his successor, George W. Bush had been our worst president prior to Bush.
And, then when the discussion turned to Trump, it was a series of even more excellent chapters. The book was focused not only on the president himself, but also the many corrupt people he surrounded himself with in his administration.
I gave this book an A+, which results in its induction into my Hall of Fame. NetGalley, Goodreads and Amazon require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an A+ equates to 5 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).
I just hope that it is also released in Audible format, so I can enjoy it again.
This review has been posted at NetGalley, Goodreads and my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews. It will be posted at Amazon when it is released on July 9.
Mr. Book originally finished reading this on May 29, 2024.
