It Was All a Lie

How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump

By: Stuart Stevens

Narrated by: Dan John Miller

New York Times Best Seller

From the most successful Republican political operative of his generation, a searing, unflinching, and deeply personal exposé of how his party became what it is today

“A blistering tell-all history. In his bare-knuckles account, Stevens confesses [that] the entire apparatus of his Republican Party is built on a pack of lies." (The New York Times)

Stuart Stevens spent decades electing Republicans at every level, from presidents to senators to local officials. He knows the GOP as intimately as anyone in America, and in this new book he offers a devastating portrait of a party that has lost its moral and political compass.

This is not a book about how Donald J. Trump hijacked the Republican Party and changed it into something else. Stevens shows how Trump is in fact the natural outcome of five decades of hypocrisy and self-delusion, dating all the way back to the civil rights legislation of the early 1960s. Stevens shows how racism has always lurked in the modern GOP's DNA, from Goldwater's opposition to desegregation to Ronald Reagan's welfare queens and states' rights rhetoric. He gives an insider's account of the rank hypocrisy of the party's claims to embody "family values", and shows how the party's vaunted commitment to fiscal responsibility has been a charade since the 1980s. When a party stands for nothing, he argues, it is only natural that it will be taken over by the loudest and angriest voices in the room.

©2020 Stuart Stevens (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Stevens stands out among Trump’s conservative critics because of his candor about the deeper rot at the core of the GOP.... He offers a grand mea culpa for his own role in paving the way for Trumpism." (Sean Illing, Vox)

"This book is going to become an important reference volume for future historians trying to explain what happened to the Republican Party in the second half of the 20th century and the Trump era. It takes someone with Stuart Stevens' insights as a writer to be able to see this story and deliver it to us the way he has." (Lawrence O'Donnell)

"An epitaph, of interest to all politics junkies, for a formerly venerable party by a champion-turned-gravedigger." (Kirkus)

I Finally Understand

Thank you Stuart Stevens, I finally understand the republican party. You have answered questions that I have had for over 25 years regarding the motivations of republicans. This book is a terrific blend of history and insightful intelligence. I can truly say this book has changed my life.

Wow, every Republican should read this book

It gives me hope that decency will prevail among the conservative elements of our nation.

Devastating

The hard, bitter truth about the modern Republican party, a cesspool of hypocrisy, moral cowardice, racism, and cultish idolatry. True conservatives should read this book and then look at themselves in the mirror.

superb

honestly its hard to oversell this book.

for anyone like me in the gop or never trump movement, its mandatory reading.

for any dems who saw for years what we never did, its worth your time to see into our crazy heads more clearly.

for trumpkins and vichy-cons, well....

Oh baby look!! The Emperor's not wearing clothes!

This went down, like a hot knife thru butter. lol,

easy read at hi-speed.

Truth-telling

Stuart Stevens laid it all out there.
He told the truth about the Republican party, schemes, wordplay, lies, games + racism.
For those of us who were aware of the harm + flaws it was refreshing to hear such honesty.
I hope folx will read it + realise we deserve better than this. Fight for our Constitutional Republic w empathy, compassion, sincerity + respect for all.

Its a shame this has gone on for so long.
Not sure the party or those disenchanted have the wherewithal to move forward in a healthy direction. But at least reading this book some folx will come to terms with the truth.
Thank you Stuart Stevens, for writing it.

enjoyed listening to this

good book! explains a lot of how the republican party is the way it is.

A Read Based in Accountability

Stuart Stevens provides a bold an unyielding introspection of himself and his party that I wish was the rule and not the exception within today's society. I don't read as much as I'd like but I'm glad I included this in my list.

Must read for all Americans .. regardless of party

A honest look at today's GOP, and American itself.. how we got here, the consequences of these actions, the damage we can continue to cause if we don't recognize the truth behind it all, and how if we don't do it soon we may be headed for very difficult time.

Brilliant Summary Of How We Got Here

Didn’t know who Stuart Stevens was until today. Very glad to have been introduced to him now!