How Trump Happened

All that astonishment when Donald Trump won the White House in 2016 – from the press, the polls, even the new president? Steven Schier and Todd Eberly argue in their provocative new book that it shouldn’t have been a surprise. The rise of a celebrity, populist candidate who managed to vanquish the leading political dynasties in both parties was the predictable outcome of political trends long in the making, they say – and regardless of what happens to the Trump presidency, those powerful impulses aren’t over yet.
— Susan Page, Washington Bureau Chief of USA TODAY and author of The Matriarch

The authors provide critically important insights into the historic 2016 election by distilling the national, long-term trends in the evolution of American democracy and how they intersected with Trump specific factors.
— Janet Box-Steffensmier, 2019-20 President of the American Political Science Association, Ohio State University

The election of Donald Trump continues to be an astounding event in American political history, and we are fortunate to have the incisive judgments and reporting of ace political observers Steven E. Schier and Todd E. Eberly on the Trump phenomenon.
— Michael Barone, senior political analyst, Washington Examiner, founding co-author, The Almanac of American Politics