American Breakdown

WHAT WENT WRONG investigates the fatal combination of cultural warfare and economic failure in America, and reimagines the American system coupled with a reassertion of the values of our democracy for the sake of a better and brighter future.

Thirty years ago, America stood triumphant. The nation that had been founded in pursuit of the simple ideal of human freedom had become the most successful and powerful country in history. In the space of half a century it had defeated both fascism and communism. This was above all a victory for the universal values the United States had pioneered: of free people and free markets. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Americans could be uniquely proud of their country's indispensable role in defeating evil and promoting good all over the world.

Just three decades later, that pride and self-confidence lies in tatters. America is now widely denounced at home and abroad as a malignant power built on discrimination, imperialism, and oppression. Millions of Americans say they have little faith in their country's future. A loud and increasingly powerful elite argues that the country is irredeemably flawed, its culture, heritage, and history widely condemned as fundamentally prejudiced, bigoted -- even genocidal.

WHAT WENT WRONG is a deeply reported and thought-provoking account that explores the ways in which Americans have been betrayed and undermined, and how that same nation can reclaim its sense of purpose for a better future.

"America in fact hasn't failed. Americans have been failed--by lying politicians, phony executives, woke academics, and activist scientists. That's the argument of Gerry Baker's AMERICAN BREAKDOWN, an immigrant journalist's passionate J'accuse against this country's elites. It's a book about two decades of declining public trust in just about every institution. But it has a hopeful message. The extremists in the culture war have fewer followers than social media might suggest. Like past periods of polarization and distrust, this breakdown, too, shall pass."--Niall Ferguson, Milbank Family Senior Fellow, the Hoover Institution, Stanford, and author of Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe
"Baker masterfully unpacks Americans' growing distrust in their institutions with a compelling breakdown of the many ways societal leaders have destroyed their credibility--and the continued threat from today's Davos Men and Little Maoists. AMERICAN BREAKDOWN makes the persuasive case that distrust is at the heart of so much U.S. dysfunction, even as it offers a critical guide to how we rebuild that social capital."--Kimberley Strassel, Wall Street Journal columnist and author of The Biden Malaise
"Well, this is the one I've been waiting for: a truly fresh and compelling account of what's gone wrong in America over the past twenty years from someone who knows what he's talking about when it comes to the failures of the people in charge--because he's seen it from the inside, as editor of the Wall Street Journal and now the masterful chronicler of the arrogance, hubris, and sheer incompetence of our ruling class. Baker vividly explains how collapsing trust in the key institutions of American life is at the root of the nation's political and social turbulence. Only when the elites who have led the country astray through ideological extremism and reckless mismanagement acknowledge the vast gulf between themselves and the people can trust be restored. If you want to understand how America recovers its soul, you need this book. Not least because it's also a brilliant read."--Steve Hilton, Fox News contributor

Gerard Baker was Dow Jones Managing Editor and the Wall Street Journal Editor-in-Chief from March 2013 until June 2018. He hosts the WSJ at Large on Fox Business.

WHAT WENT WRONG investigates the fatal combination of cultural warfare and economic failure in America, and reimagines the American system coupled with a reassertion of the values of our democracy for the sake of a better and brighter future.Thirty years ago, America stood triumphant. The nation that had been founded in pursuit of the simple ideal of human freedom had become the most successful and powerful country in history. In the space of half a century it had defeated both fascism and communism. This was above all a victory for the universal values the United States had pioneered: of free people and free markets. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Americans could be uniquely proud of their country's indispensable role in defeating evil and promoting good all over the world.Just three decades later, that pride and self-confidence lies in tatters. America is now widely denounced at home and abroad as a malignant power built on discrimination, imperialism, and oppression. Millions of Americans say they have little faith in their country's future. A loud and increasingly powerful elite argues that the country is irredeemably flawed, its culture, heritage, and history widely condemned as fundamentally prejudiced, bigoted -- even genocidal.WHAT WENT WRONG is a deeply reported and thought-provoking account that explores the ways in which Americans have been betrayed and undermined, and how that same nation can reclaim its sense of purpose for a better future.

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