The Betrayal

How Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans Abandoned America, Updated Edition

Ira Shapiro

Understanding the greatest catastrophic failure of American Government.

In 2022, Ira Shapiro completed what Brooking scholar William A. Galston called “an epic trilogy” chronicling the disastrous decline of the once-great Senate. The Founding Fathers gave the Senate many functions, but it had one overriding responsibility: to provide a check against a dangerous president who threatened our democracy. Shapiro’s gripping portrait of Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans’ turning a blind eye to Donald Trump’s abuses of power remains the definitive chronicle of the most catastrophic failure of government in American history. The updated edition carries the story forward into the Biden presidency and the efforts to restore bipartisanship in bitterly contentious times.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 350 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-1-5381-8924-5 • Paperback • May 2024 • $21.95 • (£16.99)

978-1-5381-8925-2 • eBook • May 2024 • $20.00 • (£14.99)

Subjects: Political Science / American Government / General, Political Science / American Government / Legislative Branch, Political Science / American Government / National, Political Science / Political Process / Political Parties

The Betrayal

How Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans Abandoned America, Updated Edition

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Understanding the greatest catastrophic failure of American Government.
In 2022, Ira Shapiro completed what Brooking scholar William A. Galston called “an epic trilogy” chronicling the disastrous decline of the once-great Senate. The Founding Fathers gave the Senate many functions, but it had one overriding responsibility: to provide a check against a dangerous president who threatened our democracy. Shapiro’s gripping portrait of Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans’ turning a blind eye to Donald Trump’s abuses of power remains the definitive chronicle of the most catastrophic failure of government in American history. The updated edition carries the story forward into the Biden presidency and the efforts to restore bipartisanship in bitterly contentious times.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 350 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-1-5381-8924-5 • Paperback • May 2024 • $21.95 • (£16.99)

978-1-5381-8925-2 • eBook • May 2024 • $20.00 • (£14.99)

Subjects: Political Science / American Government / General, Political Science / American Government / Legislative Branch, Political Science / American Government / National, Political Science / Political Process / Political Parties

Author

Ira Shapiro’s forty-five year Washington career has focused on American politics and international trade. Mr. Shapiro served twelve years in senior staff positions in the U.S. Senate, working for a series of distinguished senators: Jacob Javits, Gaylord Nelson, Abraham Ribicoff, Thomas Eagleton, Robert Byrd and Jay Rockefeller. He served in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative during the Clinton administration, first as General Counsel and then chief negotiator with Japan and Canada, with the rank of ambassador. From 2012 to 2017, he was the chairman of the National Association of Japan-America Societies (NAJAS) and received a Commendation from the Foreign Minister of Japan. He is the author of two previous critically-acclaimed books about the Senate: The Last Great Senate: Courage and Statesmanship in Times of Crisis (2012) and Broken: Can the Senate Save Itself and the Country? (2018). His articles have appeared in The New York Times, U.S. Today, cnn.com, The Hill, Bloomberg, The Daily Caller, Newsmax, and several local newspapers around the country. Ira currently resides in Bethesda, Maryland.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Quote Page
Foreword
Preface
Chapter 1: The End of the Last Great Senate
Chapter 2: McConnell’s Bitter Harvest
Chapter 3: Handling Trump
Chapter 4: Saving Brett Kavanaugh
Chapter 5: To Impeach or Not to Impeach
Chapter 6: The Sham Trial
Chapter 7: A Politicized Pandemic
Chapter 8: The Banana Republic Confirmation
Chapter 9: The Big Lie
Chapter 10: Acquitting the Insurrectionist
Chapter 11: Good Faith, Bad Faith

Reviews

Shapiro draws an incisive portrait of McConnell and credibly concludes that he and his fellow Republicans have broken the congressional system. This forceful critique hits home.

— Publishers Weekly

[T]he extent of McConnell’s scorched-earth politics makes it clear why Washington has been either deadlocked or regressive. Anyone interested in social justice or the advancement of the ideals of democracy can read this chronicle and come away knowing who one of the principal political villains of the twenty-first century is.

— Booklist

Another painful account of the decline of American political discourse.... In the past, Congress has endured periods of paralysis, corruption, and violence but then recovered. Readers can only hope the current breakdown is temporary. A vivid attack on “the most partisan Senate leader in modern history[.]”

— Kirkus Reviews

Shapiro guides the reader through the highlights—or lowlights—of the Trump presidency through the prism of the Senate, including the massive tax cuts and attempted repeal of Obamacare, the rush to jam through judges and justices, and, of course, the impeachment.... Shapiro takes us through the debacle of Trump and the pandemic—with no pushback or oversight from Senate Republicans as Trump downplayed the virus, and failed to take any of the steps that could have limited it or prevented massive deaths and incapacitation—and then, of course, the road that led to the January 6 insurrection, the second impeachment of Trump, and his second acquittal.... Of course, larger trends in society and the political system are responsible for the current cancer in the American polity, a cancer that has metastasized from Washington to the states to the public as a whole. The Republican Party was on its way to becoming a radical cult before Donald Trump came along, and before Mitch McConnell became his party’s Senate leader. But individuals can matter in shaping the environment and determining the course of events. And McConnell has mattered—in a way that ensures he will be in the top list of villains when the history of this sorry period is written. The evidence to bolster that judgment will include Ira Shapiro’s The Betrayal.

— Washington Monthly

This strong indictment of McConnell conforms with other accounts and raises the question of whether politics is merely transactional, with the ends justifying the means, or whether the integrity of norms and rules are sacrosanct. Republicans may read Shapiro's book and admire McConnell's hardball tactics, which produced the results they sought. Democrats, while licking their wounds, may find some solace in the belief that those results were tainted by less-than-fair play. In both cases, Shapiro's book offers a skillful portrait of an important leader during a turbulent and crucial time in American history. Recommended. All readership levels.

— Choice Reviews

Anticipating the possibility of a corrupt, rogue president, our Founders created a strong Senate to provide the ultimate check on abuses of executive power. In The Betrayal, Ira Shapiro holds Mitch McConnell and the Republican Senate accountable for their deliberate and catastrophic failure to stop Donald Trump even when American lives and our democracy were at stake. A gripping narrative and a must read.

— Robert B. Reich, Chancellors Professor, University of California at Berkeley, Former U.S Secretary of Labor

With his new book, Ira Shapiro has completed a trilogy of some of the most thoughtful works on what has happened to the U.S. Senate during the last half century. Drawing on his years serving in and closely watching this critical institution, he sadly but correctly concludes that the Senate failed to serve as a bulwark against a rogue president who abused and corrupted his office, as the Constitution had intended. An experienced observer and gifted writer, Shapiro lays bare how too many senators have forgotten the oath they took to defend the principles of that document and allowed their country to devolve into something other than the democracy the Framers intended. The Betrayal is a work of hard truths ---- truths that we must understand and confront if this essential institution is to return to its rightful role.

— Richard Moe, chief of staff to former senator and vice president Walter F. Mondale, and author of Roosevelt’s Second Act: The Election of 1940 and the Politics of War

Having previously written about the Senate at its very best, Ira Shapiro has now provided a riveting account of the Senate of 2017-21 at its very worst. Few know as much about the Senate as does Shapiro from his years as a Senate staffer and more recently as a foremost scholar of the institution. This compelling new book documents the inexcusable failure of the Senate to respond to President Donald Trump's assault on the American Constitution and his misguided policy. Shapiro convincingly attributes the Senate's default in discharging its constitutional responsibility to the Republican majority and its leaders especially Mitch McConnell. Those who care about American democracy should find this book a rewarding read.

— Joel Goldstein, author of The White House Vice Presidency: The Path to Significance, Mondale to Biden and the Vincent C. Immel Professor of Law Emeritus at Saint Louis University School of Law

'The Betrayal' is at once compelling and convincing. Read it and weep. And then get to work saving our once robust democracy.

— William Kristol, Director, Defending Democracy Together and senior official in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush

Ira Shapiro’s masterful books on the U.S. Senate have established him as an authority on the chamber and its vital role in American democracy. His latest, The Betrayal, is an absorbing account of the Senate’s failures during the Trump presidency and a stark warning to all who care about the future of this revered institution and our country.

— Madeleine K. Albright, former United States Secretary of State and author of Fascism: A Warning

Ira Shapiro has become the premier chronicler of the decline of the Senate from the 1970s to today. In The Betrayal, he takes the analysis one step further, focusing on the single most destructive senator over the past several decades-- Mitch McConnell. The indictment of McConnell is thorough and compelling, a must read for all who want to understand what has happened to the Senate and the entire political system.

— Norman J. Ornstein, Emeritus Scholar, American Enterprise Institute; contributing editor, The Atlantic; and co-author of One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported

Ira Shapiro's book is a "must read" for anyone concerned that American constitutionalism and the rule of law may be hanging by a fraying thread. For those worried about whether the "Republic will hold," look no further than the long reign of Mitch McConnell, fearlessly depicted by Shapiro. While many factors may have contributed to the dysfunction of Congress in this era, none are greater than the perfidy of the Republican leader.

— Cynthia C. Lebow, Adjunct Lecturer of Law and Political Science, UCLA; professor of political science and constitutional law, UCLA; former General Counsel, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee