Hindsight Man
Jedi Master
I read partway through the book a year or so back but found it very boring so I ended up reading a synopsis instead.From what I can tell the synopsis was fairly accurate.It deals with Trump's presidency and the difficulty of a civil war brewing,finacial institutions failing and in the end someone blows up the white house ''as an evil eye looks on'' .He's the last president because it's effectively the final chapter in the United States story.It's somewhat similar to what's currently unfolding,though most of the drama in the book was financial instead of race based.But who knows,it may yet become financial again.
here's the summary I found :
Chapter 1: Bryan is elected president of the United States, and mobs are breaking out in NYC. On page 7 it states, “The Fifth Avenue Hotel will be the first to feel the fury of the mob.” Interesting, Trump’s hotel is currently located on 5th Avenue. The chapter basically describes a battle between those who support the president “Bryan” and those who do not, and ultimately, the “city” is saved from the protesters (anti-Bryan) but not necessarily the republic.
Chapter 2: The next chapter transitions to Chicago. Bryan won the election by 24 electoral votes, and he is looked at as a savior and even God to many. It appears that the people finally feel that the rich man will fairly pay for his portion of happiness (p. 11).
Chapter 3: This chapter takes place after the election, nearing toward the inauguration day. While there are still many that oppose and fight against Byran, he has the love of the “Common People. They “were so dear to Mr. Byran, and who had made him president in the very face of the prodigious opposition of the rich men, whose coffers had been thrown wide open all to no purpose, and in spite too of the Satanic and truly devilish power of that hell upon earth known as Wall Street (p. 14)". I think the most important thing to take away from this chapter is how the “common man” feels a deep connection to Byran.
Does anybody feel like this sounds exactly like the type of people Trump appeals to (btw it appeals to me).
Chapter 4: At the beginning of Chapter 4, the author notes that there is a strange prophecy that there would be a dawnless day. Well, that prophecy was fulfilled, and on March 4, 1897, the “Dawnless Day” occurred. The President was to announce the selection of his cabinet, and many said that this would ultimately prove that he was a “sell-out”, but apparently their apprehensions were misguided. The president chooses a strong cabinet, and most notably, he chooses Lafe Pence as secretary of agriculture. His inauguration speech, again, is aimed at the common people, and then he gives out executive order one – the immediate abandonment of the “gold reserve” and the gold and silver standard of the Constitution shall be resumed. People’s reactions were of shock, exhaustion, and sheer terror, especially those on Wall Street.
Chapter 5: There are fifty thousand people on the streets of Washington without bread or shelter, and the president establishes camps and reserves rations for these “common people.” On page 20 it states, “the first act…was an act repealing the act of 1873…and opening the mints of the United States to the free coinage of silver at the ratio of sixteen to one, with gold.” This chapter mentions a bill for the admission of New Mexico and Arizona (interesting!), and a division of Texas of east vs. west. The chapter ends with the “long session” of Congress ending.
Chapter 6:The beginning of this chapter notes somebody wanting to “move the usual adjournment of the holidays” and people are very upset. They are not willing to take a break – there is much to be done. They say there should be no adjournment until they can “emancipate” the Common People. On Washington’s birthday, the president makes an address on how great the country is doing – a lovely speech. At the end of the chapter, the president says that he hopes his epitaph will read, “Here lies the friend of the Common People.”
Chapter 7: Things start to get out of control, and it states, “There began to be ugly rumors that the government was no able to hold the white metal at a parity with gold.” The Common People started to protest, and new taxes were put on the wealthy. Unfortunately, the government was powerless to stop the decline of the dollar. People began to hate the name of “silver”.
Chapter 8 : In ’99, rioting broke out everywhere, especially in the north, and socialism and anarchism “found willing ears.” – that’s a little unnerving, isn’t it? The South seems to form great power, and they are extremely upset about the tax put on them, especially because the North is much richer. There are cries of treason and the republic is shaken at its foundations. The North then had to start to prepare for a second rebellion. The president was deeply troubled.
Chapter 9: The rebellion had been squandered, but there was a new prophecy that the North, “rich with 100 cites”, would rise against the federal government. There would have be a revolution within a revolution. The North would have to fight or lose its power. (From my understanding, the South seems to be the Common People). The North wanted to separate itself from the union and from its own republic. How long would they have to wait?
Chapter 10: Congress refused to adjourn over the holidays. The entire chapter centers around the final debate between the North and South. At the point the president is pale, and seems to be weak. The Speaker of the House says the president must resign. Then, the president speaks, and it seems almost godly – he has everybody back under his power for a moment! Out of nowhere, the capitol is truck by dynamite and destroyed (what a twist!). The republic was dead, and “it had died so peacefully, that the world could not believe the tidings of its passing away” (p. 43).
CREEPY ENDING
“As the dawn broke cold and gray, and its first dim light fell upon that shattered dome glorious even in its ruins, a single human eye (the all-seeing illuminati eye? Wtf?!) filled a gleam of devilish joy, looked up at it long and steadily, and then its owner was caught up and lost in the surging mass of humanity that held the Capitol girt round and round” (p. 43).