Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again

Should Jake have been aware of all of this a lot sooner? Should he have been able to see what was right in front of him? Sure, but all humans engage in cult-like thinking. As in, "If the other side believes something, it must be wrong."People generally don't start to change their minds until someone from within their own bubble challenges the accepted narrative. Then the dam bursts. So there are lots of people who will listen to Jake Tapper, who would just tune out someone like Sean Hannity, who has been screaming for years that Biden has cognitive deficits.The bigger question is how, out of the millions of people in America, do we end up with two presidential candidates like Biden and Trump? Why do we have to go to the polls trying to decide, well, which one is worse?The authors also provide examples of other lawmakers who stayed in positions of power in Washington, D.C. well into advanced years with significant infirmities. There is nothing to stop them, except the voters. Would term limits or age limits help guard against another Biden?Opening your mind, changing your mind, is always better than clinging to old beliefs. Perhaps Mr. Tapper can take another look at the polarizing issue of transgenderism. Take a fresh, unbiased look at the practices, now banned in some of the very countries that first embraced them. You might change your own mind and have an opportunity to change the minds of others.

Democracy really was at risk in the 2024 presidential election. Trump was the one most discussed in the discussion of this topic. However, as this book clearly illustrates, it was the Biden administration, family, fellow Democrats and the media and their cover-up that may have been an even greater risk. We still don't know and may never know who was running our country.

My overwhelming response to this book is anger: at Biden, at the people close to him who protected him, at the others who knew but said nothing. Many of these people saw Biden as a “savior,” the “only one” who could defeat Trump. As it turned out, Biden and, sadly, Harris, were among the only credible politicians who could have lost to a lying bloviator who tried (and is trying) to overthrow this democratic republic. The writing here is nothing special. It’s a compendium of interviews of dozens if not hundreds of people, mostly government officials, many of whom remain unnamed. But their credibility is not impugned for that. The tragic truth was revealed on June 27, 2024, as we watched in horror. And this book is a horror story. The characters are aware of but don’t pay sufficient attention to the imminent disaster that came to fruition and with which we are all living today.There’s plenty of blame to go around: Biden for insisting on running; those close to Biden who shielded him from the truth, including his “politburo,” as this book describes it; Harris for not putting sufficient distance between herself and Biden; and so many others who let the country down by not speaking up. But ultimately, the fault is with the millions of voters who felt their best choice was to vote for a despicable would-be dictator who is destroying what this country is supposed to be about.

This book seriously confirms what we visual people knew all along: Biden was compromised by his physical condition and inability to communicate clearly and should NEVER have been allowed to run for a second term. I remember all the excuses: he has a stutter; he has a bad leg..., but otherwise, he's in great shape. Look, he rides his bike. Right!?The book states clearly how his staff and wife were able to form a cocoon around him so the truth would be hidden for at least one year and probably longer. Did Biden realize his own decrepit state? Probably, yes, in my opinion. But, he wanted that second term ABOVE ALL ELSE. Didn't DNC officials question why Biden was not having regular meeting with his cabinet and that the few times they were held, they were highly scripted with note cards that Biden read from. How could this happen? Willful blindness? Read the book.The best part of the book for me is in the later chapters when the authors discuss what happened at all the "debate parties" around Washington and LA when the truth about Biden's condition was plainly uncovered by his June debate with Trump. The resulting hysteria between "What do we do next" and "He just had a bad night" plays out dramatically, including the short bit about Robert Hur's friends and colleagues texting him about his "vindication." The authors write, "Hur told them that all he felt was sad." The authors continued, "Finally the American people were watching what Hur had seen the previous October..."This book is full of revelations about how the hidden machinery of Washington works in the shadows, particularly in its dishonesty and the self-preservation of all the goodies that come with close contact with high American officials. Many will not give them up without a fight.I highly recommend this book to anyone who cares about this country and how a small group of inside people ushered in Trump 2.0. Instead of a bridge to a new generation of American leaders, when the Democratic Party has so many capable of leadership. Biden became a bridge between Trump 1.0 and Trump 2.0 by his stubborn hubris to have a second term. I cannot believe that the major Democratic leaders did not see this disaster coming. A lot along this vein is discussed in this book.For those in these comments who ask why Tapper or his sources didn't reveal all of this before the election, I just have to say that Democratic staffers were NEVER going to put out the truth BEFORE the election. Many knew what was happening and chose to cowardly stay silent for the sake of their careers.This is the state of politics in this country. So many people value their careers over the threat of the dismantling democracy by hiding the truth. Extremely sad. I changed my political affiliation from Democrat to Independent the day after the November 4 election. I'd been a Democrat all my life since I first voted in 1972, but, I've had enough of the bad candidates (whose turn it was) when the party was full of potentially great ones who were passed over for dubious reasons. I'm sure this will not be the last book about this incredible episode in America. It's a great start in understanding the problems.

I am fascinated by social history. Why do people do what they do? What causes people to make the decisions they make? This book was right down my alley.The book at least attempts to keep a balanced perspective. It is disturbing, nonetheless. I understand the deep need to protect someone from being seen with some form of dementia, but that need should intersect with the need to protect the greater good. The moral question is, "Is the status quo better than what might happen if the apple cart is upset?" An inner circle deciding to make that decision for the country wasn't the best choice, in my opinion.Why four stars instead of five? I don't think the definitive book has been written yet, and may never be. This is a good choice in place of that book.

What extraordinary insight into the disastrous Presidential campaign. Biden not only had health issues but he was clearly envious of Harris. So many people leaked information from the party for months but no one had the courage or gumption to just empathetically tell the truth. Harris should have been chosen to long before July 2024. It’s amazing what we allow WSM to do when they have impeachable power. So many people were irresponsible to this country. No one could put aside their egos long enough to save the citizens but they chose instead to put a few privileged people above millions. And now, the ramifications from such a poor decision is on display.I know people are unhappy that Tapper and Thomas wrote this book. But we needed it. It tells the story of how we got to where we currently find ourselves. It’s courageous and painfully honest. And as long as people like these politicians continue to lie so blatantly, our country truly has no chance.

A good read, not a great or riveting read.I predicted after June 27, 2024 that books like this would be written in droves. Any sentient person could see for years what was finally, and sadly, put on full display that historical night.I find it farcical, however, that our journalists are now reporting on the scandal of Bidens impairment, and the obvious cover up, like they just learned what most of us knew and could see with our own eyes and could hear with our own ears. Jake and Alex were major actors of that cover up machine so they don't get a pass from me. Omission of the truth and facts is tantamount to lying. Every Trump hating reporter did exactly that when it came to the subject of Biden's cognition...including Jake and Alex.

This book calls for the people to do our due diligence as relates to political issues and the politicians. Too many of us stick our head in the sand and make excuses for not being involved in the governing of our country. The politicians are not serving the people. It may be serving spoiled brats whose interest in issues is what is in it for them/us irregardless to how it weakens the country. We have to have truth and it must be timely, not after the fact. Politicians are people and they are subject to the same vices we are. Leaders need to lead up, not down. I empathize with the former president’s condition, but the office requires the capacity to do the job and somewhere this president and his wife lost that and they betrayed the office. But we let them. THERE IS A TIME FOR EVERYTHING…

As a dedicated healthcare professional and political observer, I have closely followed the public narrative surrounding President Biden's health and leadership. The recent revelations about his cognitive decline raise significant concerns about transparency and accountability in government. The decision to withhold critical medical information appears to prioritize political expediency over national interests, potentially undermining the democratic process.The late-stage cancer diagnosis further complicates the understanding of his current capabilities, suggesting a potential systemic effort to shield the full extent of his health challenges. This approach does a disservice not only to Vice President Harris and Democratic leadership but also to the American people who deserve complete transparency from their elected officials.While acknowledging President Biden's extensive public service and commitment to the nation, it is crucial to recognize the human elements of political leadership - including personal ambitions, loyalties, and potential blind spots. The complex dynamics of power and personal relationships can often obscure objective assessments of leadership effectiveness.Despite the challenges and controversies, I maintain a hopeful perspective, wishing President Biden a dignified retirement that honors his decades of public service. The ultimate goal remains the continued strength and integrity of our democratic institutions.

This book is an important part of American history and should be read by all Americans and certainly anyone with an interest in serving in government. The writers reveal how Biden had been experiencing a cognitive decline since before 2020 but still chose to pursue the Presidency. It was obvious to anyone who watched the news or followed the election. Biden’s initial performance in caucuses and primaries was dismal. Buttigieg and Klobuchar had performed well and Sanders even better. The book fails to explain how Klobuchar and Buttigieg were forced out days before Super Tuesday. The motivation for the party was to prevent Sanders from winning the nomination. What happened to make two viable candidates withdraw so abruptly? This is not discussed. The author mentions that COVID was good in that it provided Biden with an excuse not to be on the campaign trail continuously where his limitations would have been revealed. Many commentators, conservative and liberal, were concerned about Biden’s ability to perform in a debate. He performed much better than in other campaign events. Was he provided a stimulant? This possibility is not considered. The book does provide a great deal of detail about how Biden’s inner circle kept him away from the majority of his staff and members of Congress. Robert Kennedy, Jr. complained that the primaries and delegates were rigged to make a challenge to for the Democratic nomination in 2024 impossible . In an interview on CNBC , Kennedy’s assertion sounded credible. This possibility was not explained.The author does not place any responsibility on the press for assisting with this coverup.

I found this to be both sad and far less damning as it should have been when the authors chose to inject their opinions based on what they had found…My take always:1- His Sr staff covered up a decline so severe he was not effectively able to serve…a part time cognitive President is one who may not be able to respond to crisis…2- His cabinet and VP embraced loyalty over country…Kamala was politically about as loyal as I’ve ever seen in politics. That’s rare…but one has to ask…did she not see this significant decline? Was she not concerned? Did she ever discuss this with any Sr cabinet members? An opportunity not addressed/lost in this book…and a key for understanding and avoiding this in the future…3- Sr Democrats failed to push for a fair primary season in 2024…or tell the President that he was declining to the point he wasn’t fit to run…a disservice to the country.4- The President’s doctor chose to not do cognitive tests because of his patients job, not his well being…a disservice to his patient and the country.5- Putting the blame on Biden doesn’t do justice to him. In some ways he is a victim here. But he had to realize he was declining…yet chose to run again.6- It’s not clear who really ran the Presidency from 2022-2024. The book aSo mostly ignores this issue. But policy wise, it was not what the President said he would do…elected promising to be a level headed moderate, his administration executed a progressive wish list made real on energy, immigration and DEI that further weakened and divided the country. Foreign policies on Iran in particular lacked basic common sense. And, to this day I have to ask, WTH regarding an idiotic immigration policy that created a floodgate at our southern border. These were not moderate decisions! Biden was known to be much more politically astute than these policies imply. Reagan was old in 84, but he was very popular…and won in a landslide. Biden was older in 24, but his policies drove key constituents right, and was doomed to lose by his policies alone. The polls said it all, yet were ignored by the Dem leadership and Biden administration leadership. Age just added to his unelectability…if age was the only factor he might have still been re-elected…if Kamala could have articulated some more moderate common sense in areas like immigration and the economy, she could have been elected…So here is my summation:Bad policies from a partially incapacitated President’s administration…and an active coverup…led us to where we are today…this book fails to address key questions tied to both VP and cabinet members awareness and the potential application of the 25th Amendment and why no one in Democratic leadership seriously questioned or challenged Biden seeking re-election given the lack of approval of his policies and age.

Original Sin has garnered significant media attention, and rightfully so. President Biden’s decision, early-on, to be a bridge following President Trump’s first term, followed by Biden’s decision to run for a second term, followed by his decision, reluctantly reached, to suspend his campaign and support Vice-President Harris’ bid for the office were nothing if not consequential decisions, consequential for Democrats and Republicans alike. The aim of Original Sin “is to present the disturbing reality of what happened in the White House and the Democratic presidential campaign in 2023-2024.” Much can be gleaned from the simple fact that Biden’s inner circle was known by its nickname, the Politburo, not because of its ideology but because of its modus operandi, particularly its willingness to insulate Biden from the world and the world from Biden. It should come as no surprise that, with time, the Politburo grew even smaller in size. “Over 2023 and 2024, the circle of people with access to the president grew smaller and smaller. Even the majority of Biden’s cabinet members weren’t in it.” This inner group received a major blow from Robert Hur’s report on Biden’s memory during Hur’s investigation into the classified material in the president's possession, but Hur’s conclusions were far from dispositive. The “smoking gun” was Biden’s debate performance. Even after that debacle, even after Biden announced his decision to cease pursuit of a second term, his antics managed to harm Harris’ efforts. Posing with a MAGA hat was decidedly unhelpful to Harris. The only part of this book I found disappointing was the very short conclusion. That focused on the obligations White House physicians have when it comes to reporting on the president’s health. I would have preferred some assessment of the prospect of establishing an age ceiling to hold the world’s most powerful position.

This is a good dive into the issues created when hubris and sheer politics replaces what is good for our country. The inner circle of the Biden team refused to see how far President Biden had fallen physically and cognitively. They put forth a false narrative about the abilities of the President and the members of the Democratic Party were too afraid to say that the emperor had no clothes.The truth was finally exposed and some members of congress had the guts to speak to President Biden directly.I would have given this book a higher rating except Tapper never addressed the media component related to this event. He comes across as trying to cover his and other media figures complicity in not fairly reporting what everyone in America saw. He and his other media equals replied to every event that Tapper now exposes as over reactions of the far right. Now that the truth is out there he seems to be trying to create another false reality of journalistic integrity during the last two years.Tapper also still cannot help aggrandize the Biden's with statements related to how Joe Biden was our most accomplished VP our country ever had or that Jill Biden was the most influential First Lady in history. His lack of objectivity is seen throughout this book.The Presidency ages people horribly. There is no disgrace in accepting this truth. President Biden would have been better served by his wife, family and inner circle if they had not shared his hubris and told him the truth. Our country would have been better served also.

While I felt compelled to read this, I expected it to be like so many other political exposes - predictable and somewhat boring, given all the media coverage and the fact that many of the bombshells in the book have been discussed ad nauseam, including by Mr. Tapper, on his own broadcasts. (Should spending so much of a news program be devoted to the anchor’s work???)However, it turns out that the best part of the book is not the bombshells, but the relentless and persistent drumbeat of the hubris of President and Mrs. Biden (the latter of whom is cast as an avenging angel of sorts on behalf of her husband) and the loyalty and self-deception of their team. This is one of those books that is gripping even though we know how it ends, but it has the added benefit of continuing the tale even after it ends.Great narrative non-fiction? Not even close. But a gripping and fascinating trip through the sad human compulsion to stay in power despite everything.

“Voters knew a tremendous amount about both Trump and Biden, and everything seemed baked in.” (p154)This carefully researched book may help encourage an important national conversation. But it suffers from a familiar problem that isn’t the authors’ fault: given the nature of book promotion in the modern era (and the nature of the news cycle in general), we already know the juicy stuff.In fact, we already know more than this. Coverup? Conspiracy? Really? People might call it many things: wishful thinking, whistling past the graveyard, spin, denial, loyalty, groupthink, whatever. But we could all see it clearly, even if we disagreed about how to proceed. We each did our own risk assessment (consciously or unconsciously), and we acted (or failed to act) consistent with our roles and proximity to power. The infamous debate surprised nobody – it merely slapped the world in the face and confirmed what people already knew. Nor is it realistic to blame Joe – this wasn’t hubris or arrogance or greed. I learned years ago (in an altitude chamber training flight designed to help me learn my own hypoxia-induced symptoms of impairment) that one should never ask people if they’re ok to drive. The reason is simple: it’s not possible to self-assess.On both the left and right, people were painfully aware of the obvious limitations of both Biden and Trump. Many of us didn’t want our candidate to run, and we kept hoping somebody else would emerge. Given the stakes, however, people on both sides were fully prepared to support their own flawed candidate because the alternative was unthinkable. We averted our eyes and bit our tongues. There were things we couldn’t say out loud, and we hushed or shouted down those who wanted to talk about the elephant in the room. We were fiercely defensive about our own candidate and shrill about the other side. Wise or foolish, right or wrong, understandable or unforgiveable, none of this feels like a coverup to me.

The election of 2024 was one like nothing in my memory - And I am 75 years old and have a good memory (so far). This book deals with the end of Joe Biden's presidency and the factors leading to the Democrats losing the White House and Congress. I have read several books about Trump and I felt that fairness dictated that I read this one.The book is heartbreaking if you are a Democrat and/or fan of Joe Biden. It's also a cautionary tale of the fallout from one of the world's toughest jobs (if you do it right) and the rough-and-tumble politics of today. The book is quite believable because it reinforces exactly what I saw unfolding on my TV and in the news over the period of the story. The advantage of reading this book is that it brings forth a consistent telling of what took about a year to unfold in real time and it fills in with information from insider sources.There is much to admire about Joe Biden. But he and his family have their share of failings too. Some of them are understandable - After losing a wife and a child in a traffic accident early in his political career, Biden somehow rebuilt his life and became a successful Senator and then Vice President. Joe had two sons, his presumptive heir "Beau" with a sterling career until he died of cancer and Hunter who was haunted by addiction and bad choices. Losing two children had a huge impact on Joe and he feared losing Hunter either to addiction or prison. Unfortunately Hunter was not above trading on his father's name to sell access to his father while Joe was Vice President and later president. There is additional implication in the book that one of Joe's brothers may have done likewise. There are definitely ways in which this story might have been written by Shakespeare. I can just imagine Joe saying to himself "to be or not to be..."I read this book in two sittings, the last was in the wee hours of the morning until the sun came up - It's that good! The book is of an appropriate length, a bit over 300 pages plus an index and references. The book is clear and very readable and tells a fascinating story. Clearly the authors spoke with several insiders in researching the story, some are listed, some remain anonymous.The heart of the story has to do with Joe Biden's obvious physical and mental decline once in office and the lengths his inner staff went to shield him from the consequences of that. But ultimately that shielding of the President created a situation where he was locked into a hopeless battle that threatened to not just bring Donald Trump back into office but also could lead to loss of control of Congress for decades to the Republicans.Like most declines of the elderly, as my Dad used to say - "He had his good days and his bad days." Joe lost much of his ability to communicate effectively in an open non-scripted format - and that is career fatal for a politician. There isn't anything presented that makes it clear that Joe lost the ability to make tough decisions as President, but there are hints that some of the inconsistencies in his policy were due to his inner staff pulling in different directions - possibly without Joe's close oversight.I think Biden's worst failing was in seeing himself as "indispensable." It is said of Lucifer that his original sin was pride. I believe this is the original sin that authors refer to in the title. By hanging on as long as he did it kept the Democrats from having a real primary and allowing the best possible candidate to rise to the occasion. And last minute replacement, Kamala Harris, was unable to differentiate herself from an unpopular president because of her loyalty to Joe and her sense of obligation because of her "coronation" by Joe Biden instead of having gone through an actual primary campaign in 2024.

Here is a short space holder until I finish the book (I’m currently at the 35% mark). While the subject matter is fascinating, the writing is not very good. Chronologically, the storyline jumps all over the place. Most of the book covers 2023-2024, but even within that span, the progression is very non-linear. In addition, sometimes the narrative jumps back to 2015 or even further. It’s often hard to tell the sequence of events.I’ve been watching Tapper as an anchor on CNN for as long as I can remember. So I trusted him to tell the story in a fair and balanced way. But at the 33% mark, the vibe I get is more like a hit piece than straight monograph. This was surprising to me.There are far too many very short chapters with random chapter and subchapter breaks, many of them with short terminal sentences that feel like “gotchas” or little digs against the Bidens.While there is a rather brief reference list, there is a surprising paucity of quotes, and none is associated with a source. I could often not tell who was alleged to have said some very important things. This is not textbook Journalism. And it’s not very well written. The vocabulary and sentence structure is extremely simple; I would estimate it’s somewhere around a 5th or 6th grade levels.So I’m clearly not in love with the book at this point. 3 stars may be overly enthusiastic.