On Heroism: McCain, Milley, Mattis, and the Cowardice of Donald Trump

by Jeffrey Goldberg

Overview

From the editor in chief of The Atlantic comes a collection of essays examining Donald Trump’s corrupted notions of American "heroism" and "cowardice." An Atlantic Edition, featuring long-form journalism by Atlantic writers, drawn from contemporary articles or classic storytelling from the magazine’s 165-year archive.

From the editor in chief of The Atlantic comes a grave study of Donald Trump’s trenchant disdain for military personnel, a preoccupation that reveals the extent to which Trump is grossly unfit to serve. Jeffrey Goldberg draws upon decades of his own reporting, including key interviews with top officials such as John McCain, former Defense Secretary James Mattis, and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley. In doing so, Goldberg paints a portrait of a president whose impulse is to dismiss acts of heroism in pursuit of dangerously undemocratic processes and ideals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781638932055
Publisher:	Zando - Atlantic Editions
Publication date:	09/03/2024
Series:	Atlantic Editions
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	108,953
File size:	334 KB

About the Author

Jeffrey Goldberg joined The Atlantic in 2007 as a national correspondent and was named the magazine’s fifteenth editor in chief in 2016. He is also the moderator of Washington Week with The Atlantic on PBS. In 2022, 2023, and 2024, The Atlantic was named the winner of the National Magazine Award for General Excellence, the highest honor bestowed by the magazine industry. Under Goldberg’s leadership, The Atlantic has won the first Pulitzer Prizes in its history.

Before joining The Atlantic, Goldberg served first as Middle East correspondent, and then as Washington correspondent, for The New Yorker. Earlier in his career, he was a writer for The New York Times Magazine and New York magazine. He began his career as a police reporter for The Washington Post. Goldberg is the author of Prisoners: A Story of Friendship and Terror. A former fellow of the American Academy in Berlin, he also served as a public-policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and as the distinguished visiting fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Goldberg is the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Magazine Award for reporting, the Daniel Pearl Award for reporting, the Overseas Press Club award for human-rights reporting, and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists Prize for best investigative reporting.

Editorial Reviews

The editor-in-chief of The Atlantic gathers five essays on key figures from the modern Republican Party who have exemplified—or utterly distorted—the meaning of patriotism . . . as the author showcases the sometimes maligned heroes who have battled to save the U.S. from the growing rot within, he also reveals the frightening ease with which democracy can be undermined by those unwilling to make the sacrifices necessary to protect it . . . Candid, timely reading.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2024-05-15
The editor-in-chief of theAtlantic gathers five essays on key figures from the modern Republican Party who have exemplified—or utterly distorted—the meaning of patriotism.

As the Trump administration came to an end, Goldberg published articles about Republicans who chose to serve their country rather than the whims of a “racist…misogynist [and] megalomaniac” president. Among those he celebrates are former Arizona senator John McCain, who turned down early release from captivity in North Vietnam “unless all [other American POWs] were released with him.” In his later years as a statesman, he became a “North Star” to other Republicans, including fellow senator Lindsay Graham. But when Trump—who once famously declared that “avoiding STDs, in the 1990s was his own personal Vietnam”—took office, McCain stood almost completely alone in supporting the Constitution as other Republicans (including Graham) chose to support the president, who said about McCain, “He’s not a war hero. He is a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” Another individual Goldberg highlights is former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley. Though he never outwardly disobeyed or criticized Trump, in the weeks before the 2020 election, he reassured allies and adversaries about U.S. stability, an act Trump later called “treasonous.” Milley also told lawmakers and media figures that the “military would play no role” in the outcome. The armed forces serve the country and not the president, a point Milley dared to make in front of hardcore Trumpists like Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller. As the author showcases the sometimes maligned heroes who have battled to save the U.S. from the growing rot within, he also reveals the frightening ease with which democracy can be undermined by those unwilling to make the sacrifices necessary to protect it.

Candid, timely reading.

Kirkus Reviews