The Great Divide: Story of the 2016 US Presidential Race

by Harrison, Howard

• ISBN13: 9781098326371
• ISBN10: 1098326377
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2020-11-16
• Publisher: BookBaby

Summary

The Great Divide: Story of the 2016 US Presidential Race takes readers on a tour of one of the most unusual, controversial, and compelling elections in history. It starts in June 2015 when billionaire real estate mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump joins a crowded field of Republican candidates and soon vaults to No. 1 in the polls. It ends with a result that shocks the world. In between, readers will enjoy a play-by-play (or blow-by-blow) account of all the events that made headlines during the campaign. Written in real time, the story captures each event as it occurred, up through the election. You will read about Bernie Sanders reigniting 1960s liberalism, Hillary Clinton's e-mails, the Supreme Court vacancy, the "Stop Trump" movement, terrorist attacks, rally violence, Muslim bans, Mexican walls, and more. The book also explores the issues that have created such a polarized electorate.
Specific story lines abound:
•An anti-abortion group infiltrates Planned Parenthood and shoots a covert video of an official discussing the "sale of baby body parts," leading GOP candidates to condemn Planned Parenthood and to call for an end to its federal funding.
•The United States and other world powers sign a nuclear deal with Iran that is denounced by Republicans universally and by some Democrats.
•Several GOP candidates support a county clerk in Kentucky who refuses to issue marriage licenses to gay couples because it conflicts with her religion.
•The Islamic State downs a Russian passenger jet, kills 130 people in Paris, and influences an attack in San Bernardino, all in the last months of 2015.
•Candidates spar over how to stop terrorism, with some suggesting a religious test to determine who can come to America.
•As the first female presidential nominee of a major party, Hillary Clinton gets grilled on Benghazi; her e-mails, speeches, honesty, voice, and stamina; her husband's behavior; and other issues.
•The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia exposes the partisan divide at its starkest when Congressional Republicans refuse to consider any replacement nominated by President Obama.
•The GOP forms a "Stop Trump" faction, believing Trump is not really a Republican.
•Russians allegedly try to influence the election by hacking Democrats' e-mails.
•A dozen women accuse Trump of sexual assault, and he denies all charges.
These are just some of the events that made the 2016 US presidential race one sure to be discussed and dissected for years. They are all here in The Great Divide.

Author Biography

Howard Harrison is an award-winning writer with more than 35 years of experience as a speechwriter, ghostwriter, and journalist. The Great Divide: Story of the 2016 US Presidential Race is his second bylined book title. His first, NOW They Make It Legal: Reflections of an Aging Baby Boomer, was named a 2016 Reviewer's Choice by the Midwest Book Review. Mr. Harrison's articles on politics, Baby Boomers, and other topics have appeared in newspapers and other media nationwide. He also has been interviewed on radio and television discussing the 2016 presidential race and other timely topics.
Mr. Harrison earned his journalism degree in 1978 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he cut his political teeth, participating in a campus demonstration his first week on campus and later covering the 1976 presidential race for the student newspaper. After college, he worked as a writer, editor, and communications executive for several large organizations in the Chicago area before forming his own business, Harrison Editorial, Inc., in 1994.
Mr. Harrison began his career with the Walgreen Company as editor of the company magazine, Walgreen World, and managed grand-opening publicity for new Walgreens stores. In 1980, he joined the Hospital Financial Management Association as writer and editor of an 84-page journal. He then was tapped by the accounting firm Alexander Grant & Company to lead communications for the newly formed Grant Thornton International, the product of a merger between Alexander Grant in the United States and Thornton Baker in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Harrison later worked as an editor at large for the American Bar Association Press before landing at Baxter International, a global health-care products company, in 1983. He led employee communications during Baxter's historic merger with American Hospital Supply Corporation in 1985 and created a new employee magazine that won the Gold Quill Award of Excellence from the International Association of Business Communicators in 1991.
Mr. Harrison later served as executive writer and editor at Baxter, writing speeches for senior executives and managing the company's annual shareholder report, which won numerous awards under his direction. As president of Harrison Editorial, Inc., Mr. Harrison has provided writing and editorial services to a range of clients.
The Midwest Book Review called Mr. Harrison's first book, NOW They Make It Legal, "a fabulous, firmly tongue-in-cheek tour of bygone decades. Award-winning journalist Howard Harrison has crafted a memoir so vivid it's the next best thing to a time machine. These anecdotes [will] enlighten, startle, perplex, and inspire readers of all generations." Mr. Harrison stepped up his game on The Great Divide, applying his unique brand of storytelling to the 2016 US presidential race, a tale he admits "practically wrote itself."