Year Zero
The Five-Year Presidency

Christopher P. Liddell (Author)

9780813953359

Paperback / softback, published 31 January 2025

282 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm, 0.42 kg

A former Trump White House insider suggests a program of reform for better preparing candidates to serve in the highest office in the land...with advice that candidates for higher office should surely take under consideration." - Kirkus Reviews

"Liddell’s thesis is grounded in an important underlying reality: Our federal government is unimaginably vast; its structures are impossibly complex; and its pace of operation is frustratingly slow. . . . Liddell knows whereof he speaks, having worked for decades in the private sector—as chief financial officer at Microsoft and at General Motors, among other positions—before becoming a deputy chief of staff in the Trump White House.. . . . [and he] has a healthy understanding of the limits of any government process, no matter how well thought out and improved it might be." - Wall Street Journal

Designing and operating an effective White House are critical to the success of any presidency—and to democracy in the United States. Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Christopher Liddell offers a strategic approach to building a strong and successful presidency. An astute and experienced operative, he demonstrates persuasively that action must be taken early, comprehensively, and visibly, starting in what he calls Year Zero, the year before governing. His book lays out concrete nonpartisan steps and recommendations that would significantly improve how the White House functions and thus rebuild trust in one of our most fundamental institutions.