Thank You for Your Servitude: Donald Trump's Washington and the Price of Submission

From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller This Town, the eyewitness account of how Washington’s “swamp”, far from being drained, was turned into a gold-plated hot tub by Trump, with the connivance of the GOP political class, out of opportunism and cowardice—because how bad could it get?

In the early months of Trump’s candidacy, the GOP’s most important figures, people such as Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Lindsey Graham, were united—and loud—in their scorn and contempt. Even more, in their outrage: Trump was a menace and an affront to our democracy. Then, awkwardly, Trump won.

Thank You for Your Servitude is Mark Leibovich’s unflinching account of the utter moral rout of one of America’s two major political parties, tracking the transformation of Rubio, Cruz, Graham and their ilk into the administration’s enablers and alpha lapdogs, and the swamp’s lesser lights into chasers of the grift. What will these politicos do to preserve their place in the sun, or at least the orbit of the spray tan? What will they do to preserve their “relevance”? Almost anything, it turns out. Trump is the most unconstrained bully ever to hold the office, and his savage bullying of everyone in his circle, and his singular control of his political base, created a cult of submission, of toeing the Trump line, however obviously untrue. Many of the most alpha of the lapdogs happily conceded to Mark Leibovich that they were in on the joke. As Lindsey Graham told the author, his people in South Carolina don’t read the New York Times, and they won’t read this book. All that cynicism, even nihilism, led to a country truly unhinged from reality, and from January 6th. It’s a vista that makes the Washington of This Town seem like Utopia in comparison. Thank You for Your Servitude isn’t another view from the Oval Office: it’s the view from the Trump Hotel. We can check out any time we want, but only time will tell if we can ever leave.

About the Author

Mark Leibovich is the Chief National Correspondent for the New York Times Magazine. He is the recipient of the National Magazine Award for profile writing. Leibovich is the author of three books, including the #1 New York Times best-seller This Town, about the political culture of 21st-century Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the Times magazine in 2012, Leibovich covered national politics in the New York Times’ Washington Bureau. He previously worked at the Washington Post and San Jose Mercury News. He lives with his family in Washington, D.C.

Author Residence: Washington, D.C.

Author Hometown: Boston, MA