Writing Bigly
27th June 2021
It is an acknowledged legacy of any president’s career that, once they leave office, they will seek to make a lot of money from a book deal. In the case of most incumbents of the White House, the subsequent memoir will be well-written (often with the aid of a handsomely remunerated ghostwriter), insightful (insofar as classified details can be revealed in the lifetimes of participants) and front-loaded in terms of sales. It is hard to imagine that many people today will be rushing to purchase Jimmy Carter’s Keeping Faith, or even George W Bush’s Decision Points.
Yet, in the case of the Oval Office’s most notorious recent occupant, there is already controversy on a hitherto unimagined scale. Donald Trump has announced, in his usual quiet, low-key way, that he is working on a memoir of his time as President. In a statement last week, he claimed that “I’m writing like crazy, and when the time comes, you’ll see the book of all books.” He also stated that he had already turned down two lucrative deals “from the most unlikely of publishers”, but did not name who they were, only stating that “I do not want to do such a deal right now”.