Donald Trump Still Looms in the American Psyche: Revisiting This Year’s Excerpts

Obama’s Charleston Speech • From the COVID Front Lines • Biden’s Troubled Transition [View in your browser]( | [Update your preferences](newsletter=vf) [Vanity Fair Hive logo image]( Donald Trump Still Looms in the American Psyche: Revisiting This Year’s Excerpts As we head into the New Year, Donald Trump may be losing his grip on the Republican Party, making it a good time to reflect on just how corrosive a force he’s been on American democracy. To start, consider Vanity Fair’s October [excerpt]( from Chris Whipple’s latest book, which recounts the remarkable, behind-the-scenes drama that played out during Joe Biden’s transition into power. It’s also a perfect time to revisit Sarah Kendzior’s They Knew, which [covers the parallels]( between Trump and Norman Baker, one of America’s oldest hucksters. If you’re looking for something more uplifting, we’d recommend diving back into our excerpt of Grace by Cody Keenan, a former Obama speechwriter who [chronicled]( the trials and tribulations of getting the former president’s famous speech in Charleston, South Carolina, just right. And if that’s not enough, take another look at Marie Brenner’s [on-the-ground dispatch]( from the front lines of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, when thousands of New York health care workers were risking their lives every day. [Image may contain: Human, Person, and Finger]( [Exclusive: Inside the S--tshow That Was the Trump-Biden Transition]( By [Chris Whipple]( [New revelations about how one Trump staffer helped preserve the transfer of power—from the forthcoming book on the Biden White House, The Fight of His Life.]( [Read more button](   [“America Is a Ghost Story”: How Donald Trump Follows in the Footsteps of a Notorious Con Artist]( By [Sarah Kendzior]( [From Norman Baker to Jeffrey Epstein, Iran-Contra to January 6, Sarah Kendzior’s forthcoming book, They Knew, deftly separates fact from fiction in a conspiracy-addled nation.]( [Read more button](   [“If It Feels Right, I Might Sing It”: How Obama’s Most Famous Speech Almost Didn’t Happen]( By [Cody Keenan]( [The 2015 church massacre in Charleston would precipitate Obama giving a poignant eulogy. But behind the scenes, speechwriter Cody Keenan recalls in his new book, Grace, Obama doubted whether he could bring himself to say anything at all.]( [Read more button](   [COVID’s Ground Zero, Spring 2020: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Traumatized New York]( By [Marie Brenner]( [In an excerpt from her book The Desperate Hours, the author went inside the ICU and into the mindsets of frontline heroes during the early days of the pandemic.]( [Read more button](   Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. [Sign Up Now](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn](   This e-mail was sent to you by The Hive. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe](newsletter=vf) Sent from Condé Nast, 1 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007 Copyright © 2022 Condé Nast