Breaking History-A White House Memoir, Jared Kushner. Author, Sean Pratt, Narrator

I had both the print and audio of this book. I was very impressed with the information put forth, but thought Jared could use a bit of humility in his presentation. Still, he covered the time leading up to an through the Presidency of Donald Trump accurately, representing both sides of the aisle, often. Jared is more likely a liberal, as is Ivanka, at least in their daily lives. Still, as they both worked diligently to advance the policies they supported, President Trump encouraged their efforts, possibly showing that both sides of the aisle can be fairly represented when the desire to do so is present. However, what Jared showed a great deal of in his book, was the disinterest in, and active obstruction of, anything the Trump administration supported. Democrats denied the idea of Trump’s Presidency from the moment he earned the nomination and were not condemned for it, but actually they were actively supported even afterwards when they questioned and denied the election results. How different the Democrats feel today in the face of obvious chicanery in the last election which defeated him.

In supporting the policies of Trump, Jared places himself front and center in most of the controversies Trump faced, riding in and solving the problems after everyone else messed up. If this is indeed true, he was a valuable asset to Trump and the country. In his effort to highlight his achievements, he does highlight Trump’s achievements very well, and proves what a good President he really was for the country, in spite of his rhetoric, which was often not politically correct and was insulting. Still, he has been targeted relentlessly and unfairly, so some slack has to be given when considering his over the top responses. After reading the book, and after realizing how much of the accomplishments have been rolled back to the detriment of America, one has to question the aim of the current administration. Is it to help America and American citizens, or is it merely to seek revenge? Jared Kushner earned the respect and admiration of many of the people he worked with, on both sides of the aisle and of many foreign leaders and diplomats. Just thinking back about the Middle East including the Abraham Accords, immigration reform, Mexican policy, China negotiations, payroll guarantees, North Korean diplomacy, energy independence, criminal justice reform, the achievement of a vaccine and providing supplies needed during a previously unknown pandemic not prepared for by the Biden/Obama administration during their term, helping in the fight against the unfair charges leveled against Trump and his White House, the mockery of the impeachment charges and the Russian Dossier, shows some of the positive effects of his work. The presentation of the details of how he achieved the goals of the President are intensive and thorough. Hopefully, they are also accurate.

Jared describes himself as the lynchpin in most of the consequential decisions made by the White House, and so far, no one has contradicted him. He accurately describes conditions in politics that continued to try Trump in “the court of public opinion”, unfairly. He was rarely covered positively although he achieved monumental unexpected goals. Kushner names the names of those who were deliberately thwarting Trump’s efforts though they were theoretically on the same side; he names Trump’s fiercest opponents and identifies their lies and their duplicitous methods. An honest appraisal of the book will acknowledge that Trump was a good President, he achieved a lot that was ignored at America’s own peril, and will recognize the atrocious level of obstruction and slander that is still being leveled at this man who believes he has worked his whole life to advance his country’s needs whenever he was asked. Although Jared does not really stress the fact that Trump was maligned, as he seems only to want to promote himself in this book, he still exposes the enemies in Trump’s own administration; he explains why there were so many hiring changes made, why so many remained who were enemies, and why the lack of political expertise hindered their efforts. He makes the reader aware of the heinous behavior of Trump’s enemies on both sides of the aisle.

In short, his efforts and the description of the Trump Presidency is honest, even though it is often not positive, and Jared and Ivanka’s opposition to some of Trump’s policies are distinctly left-wing. One has to wonder, however, if Jared thinks anything would have been accomplished without him. Some of the people he exposes are tainted journalists like Chris Wallace and Steve Bannon of Breitbart who was self-serving and leaked relentlessly, Megan Kelly and all those who perhaps unknowingly competed with him, defeating his efforts, Corporate leaders like Tillerson, Generals like Mattis, and a host of others like politicians, Pelosi, Schiff, Clinton, Obama, Christie, and Biden, and ordinary people like Howard Kohr of Aipac who unfairly pushed back against Trump, Stephanie Grisholm who worked in the administration but was disappointed because she did not achieve her own personal goals and resented the help of others which she viewed as interference, and Lewandowski who tried but who was not able to achieve good public relations for the administration. In the face of the disgraceful, left-wing obstruction and fury about Hillary Clinton’s losing the election, I am not certain anyone could have achieved that goal.

Perhaps the most positive moment in the book for me was when Jared described Trump as magnanimous, someone who could talk to everyone, and was not an elitist. That is a side of Trump not often promoted or even discussed. If only the press had covered Trump fairly, his accomplishments which were world changing, but were largely ignored, would have been even greater. Instead, after each achievement, charges of new conspiracies were mounted against him.

Jared is more likely a liberal and a democrat, but he uses those left-wing talking points, subtly, and promotes them under the surface. The book illustrates the atmosphere Trump was faced with, even from his own family. It is really worth the read to understand how great Trump’s achievements were, how much opposition he faced and was still able to achieve so much, and how sad it is that the very things that earned America respect again, are being rolled back. We are watching our country descend into chaos with outrageous crime, rising prices, a failed border policy and a Democrat Party that is more divisive than any other ever has been, that cares little for achieving American greatness and more for petty vengeance as sore losers. ( )