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Overview
In Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, author, historian, and popular social media creator Heather Cox Richardson traces the roots of movement conservatism in the United States while reflecting on the Trump Administration and the insurrection of January 6, 2021
. In the 2023 book, Richardson draws upon her expertise as a U.S. History professor to argue that Donald Trump laid the groundwork for his authoritarian presidency using divisive rhetoric that promoted racial and social hierarchies. In Democracy Awakening, which was published in the immediate build up to the hotly contested 2024 U.S. Presidential election, she delivers a strong rebuke to Trump and his supporters. Richardson—who has large Facebook, podcast, and newsletter followings—calls upon Americans to awaken to the serious dangers to democracy and other traditions that she believes Trump’s return to power would pose in the last part of her book.Explore the full book summary & analysis, a discussion of the main ideas, and explanations of important quotes in Democracy Awakening.
