America’s political institutions are the guardrails preventing our democratic system of government from plunging over the cliff into autocracy. But their durability and strength are not guaranteed, particularly when someone like the president of the United States – perhaps the most powerful person in the world – attacks them. Donald Trump laid siege to these institutions. Except for the Civil War, the damage Trump caused to the country’s guardrails was unprecedented. This book describes what happened and assesses the damage. But it also does something else that’s important.