📖 Overview
Here's the Deal chronicles Kellyanne Conway's journey from pollster to becoming the first woman to run a successful U.S. presidential campaign. The memoir covers her role as Senior Counselor during the Trump administration and provides an insider perspective on key moments and decisions.
Conway balances political revelations with personal narrative, including her upbringing in New Jersey, her career development, and the challenges of managing both public responsibilities and family life. The book addresses her experiences with media scrutiny and the complexities of operating within the Trump White House.
As both a political memoir and personal story, the book examines themes of power, gender dynamics in politics, loyalty, and the cost of public service. The narrative provides context for understanding recent American political history while exploring questions about career, family, and personal conviction.
👀 Reviews
Readers break along partisan lines in their assessment, with Trump supporters rating it highly and critics rating it negatively. The book has a 3.89/5 on Goodreads and 4.7/5 on Amazon.
Positive reviews note:
- Behind-the-scenes details of the 2016 campaign
- Personal stories about Conway's background
- Clear writing style and pacing
- Defense of Trump administration policies
Critical reviews focus on:
- Too much self-promotion and score-settling
- Lack of new revelations about Trump
- Selective memory about controversial events
- Limited discussion of family dynamics with George Conway
"She tells her story without apology," notes one Amazon reviewer. A Goodreads critic counters that it reads like "a 400-page job application."
Several readers point out factual inconsistencies with contemporary news reports and other Trump administration memoirs. Multiple reviews mention skimming through sections they found repetitive, particularly the early career chapters.
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🤔 Interesting facts
★ Conway coined the now-infamous phrase "alternative facts" during a 2017 Meet the Press interview, which sparked widespread debate about truth in politics and became a defining moment of the Trump era
★ As CEO of The Polling Company for over two decades before joining Trump's campaign, Conway specialized in understanding female consumers and voters, earning her the nickname "Trump Whisperer" for her ability to help him connect with women voters
★ The book reveals that Conway was initially a supporter of Ted Cruz in the 2016 Republican primaries before eventually joining Trump's team in July 2016
★ Her memoir describes growing up in a household of strong women in New Jersey, raised primarily by her mother, grandmother, and aunts after her father left when she was young
★ Despite intense media criticism and public scrutiny, Conway maintained the longest tenure of any senior advisor in the Trump administration, serving from 2017 to 2020