I have been on a nonfiction kick recently and the complexity of this case really stood out to me. The author captured my attention immediately and held that attention which can be difficult in books like this.

The Biden Malaise presents a powerful and accurate comparison between the presidencies of Carter and Biden. Naturally, it is biased, but it is written for an audience of conservative voters who will determine the next GOP nominee to run against Biden, so it’s not meant to be impartial. The author really has a solid grasp on the political pulse of the modern conservative demographic.

Strassel clearly articulated the reasons why Biden’s presidency has been a complete disaster and exhorted conservative voters to strongly consider the qualities that would make an effective candidate to run against him in 2024. She drew another correlation between Reagan (who succeeded Carter) and the ideal GOP candidate—a comparison which I can wholeheartedly get on board with. “Reagan didn’t win with anger, accusations, purity tests, or probes. He was the ultimate happy warrior who tempted the skeptical with the power of ideas, words, and humor, and who opened the tent to all comers. He demonstrated the principles of conservative governance by governing. He knew a divided Republican party—or an angry one—was a losing party” (from the Introduction).

While I found it to be very well written and informative, I wish it had been written to be more accessible to the average voter. I found this book hard to get through at times with all the jargon, details, and some assumed prior knowledge. To readers who may get bogged down with the specifics of policy, I would suggest reading the Introduction, Chapter 1, and Chapters 10-12 at minimum.

One of my favorite quotes: “Conservative voters will have to decide if their loyalty to the former president is worth risking this unique political opening.”

This is simply a fabulous book! Indeed, it is among the very best books that I have ever read!
Ms. Strassel is a top opinion columnist for the WSJ, so her prose is excellent, and she writes with aplomb, wit, and authority. Therefore, her book is both informative but yet fun to read.
The theme of "The Biden Malaise" is an in depth comparation of Jimmy Carter's four years in office versus Joe Biden's first several years in the White House. And she does a detailed and superb job of pointing out the almost countless similarities between the two administrations.
The bottom line is that everyone simply must-read Kim Strassel's new book. It will remind those who were alive during 1977 till 1981 about how bad things were, it will inform those who were not alive during Mr. Carter's single term in office about the total mess that he created, and it will clearly show everyone that Carter and Biden are political doppelgangers.

Jimmy Carter was a 52-year-old peanut farmer and an outsider to politics. Biden, on the other hand, got into politics at 30-years-old and is a backslapping insider. In many ways, both men are alike, however, Biden has shown himself to be dismally worse than Carter ever was. The author discusses the policies of both men and their take on events in this country under their administrations.

For the record, Carter was the one to implement many government offices such as the Department of Energy and the Department of Education, plus many more. Both men feel that throwing a lot of money at a problem will fix it - not. They liked big government which is hard to reduce once set in place.

When Biden took office, he got rid of everything that Trump had created. In addition, even though Biden ran against Bernie Sanders, he immediately adopted many of the man’s socialist agenda which has spiraled this country into the mess it is in.

We see how very powerful the Department of Education is which has caused many problems for parents everywhere. Covid shutdown was a God-send for teachers as they had a nice, long vacation. With parents overseeing their children’s classes online, many realized the Critical Race Theory (CRT) that the teachers union had snuck into their children’s classes and parents did not like it. But the DOE is the biggest, union-run department in the U.S. and what they say goes. Next came the transgender movement and more parents are up in arms. There is the frightening fact that Biden removed the southern wall Trump built saying “we are a nation of immigrants and will not stand in the way of people wanting a better life.” Well, that means that we have had to find a place for these people, many of whom truly want a chance, but the bad thing is that many are part of cartels bringing in massive amounts of drugs and driving human trafficking. The way that the Biden administration has pushed the defund police movement has only destroyed any feeling of safety that citizens have plus forcing good police personnel to pursue another career. The top item of this administration is the persecution of President Trump the likes of which has never been seen before. What will happen if Biden gets elected again? The United States will surely become a third-world, socialist country and one man - Joe Biden - is to blame.

This book puts politics into perspective from the time of Jimmy Carter to Joe Biden. Most voters are familiar with events during this time period but this excellent author honestly and explicitly lays the truth out for us. She also delves on how strong and even-tempered Ronald Reagan was. One thing that I personally find sad is that Biden’s family have not taken steps to remove this poor man from the world’s spotlight as his diminishing mental capacity has made him a laughing stock. When someone has dementia, they need privacy and this poor man deserves that last bit of dignity. In addition, do not think that this is a pro-Trump book because the author is very honest with her views of the mistakes that Trump has also made. She details the work that Republicans face in winning this election and the huge efforts needed to fix the problems in this country. I wish every American citizen would read this book and do the right thing by voting for the right candidate. It opened my eyes and I learned so much. Do read this outstanding book.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.