The Great American Awakening: Two Years that Changed America, Washington, and Me [Paperback]

Jim DeMint (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 4, 2011

Following his New York Times best seller, Saving Freedom, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint's The Great American Awakening chronicles two tumultuous years from the presidential election of 2008 through the mid-term elections of 2010. Untold insider views of the controversial stimulus bill passage, corporate takeovers, and lesser-known executive actions that epitomize political paybacks and moral decay will further motivate DeMint's fellow citizens to reclaim their government and country in 2012. 

Just as fascinating, the South Carolina official talks openly about his seized upon high profile moments—from that "Waterloo" comment regarding health care reform to becoming known as "Senator Tea Party." He also addresses close-to-home disappointments such as the infidelity of Christian friends like Governor Mark Sanford and Senator John Ensign, and shares personal spiritual insights that came from being part of such public battles. 

But more than anything, The Great American Awakening champions the American people who now feel a powerful stirring in their souls to take on Washington and realign politics in this nation. DeMint tracks grass-roots developments, and new movements like the Freedom Congress, fully expecting a fundamental sea change for the better to happen soon.

Acclaim for The Great American Awakening:

"I have Senator DeMint on my show often because Americans know he'll tell the truth about what's wrong in Washington. His latest book is a riveting account about the fight for fiscal sanity in Congress. It's essential reading for anyone who wants to understand why so many Americans clued in and got involved with the Tea Party Movement in the last election. Senator DeMint was a huge part of this and I only hope he is as involved in the 2012 race for the White House as he was this past election."

Sean Hannity, host of the nationally syndicated Sean Hannity Radio show and "Hannity" on Fox News

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jim DeMint was elected senator of South Carolina in 2004 and then chairman of the Senate Steering Committee in 2006. For standing up against wasteful spending in Congress and saving Americans about $17 billion, Wall Street Journal editor Steve Moore called DeMint the "taxpayers' greatest ally." DeMint was also ranked as the Senate's most conservative member by National Journal and as the # 1 senator voting for responsible tax and spending policies by the National Taxpayers Union. The senator and his wife, Debbie, have four grown children, are doting new grandparents, and live in Greenville, South Carolina.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: B&H Books; Original edition (July 4, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1433672790
• ISBN-13: 978-1433672798
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.7 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #799,920 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Mandatory Reading June 26, 2011

By Sam Carpenter

Format:Paperback

From the ultimate Tea Party insider, here is the definitive recap of the first two years of the new movement. Senator DeMint's tour-of-events is all the more riviting as he is castigated from both sides of the political isle, while simultaneously revered as the in-the-middle-of-it-all hero by millions of people just people like me. The man has guts, operating on principles, not politics. He has assembled a squad of five like-minded Senators from Florida, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Utah, and it's my bet the cadre will be twice the size come January 2013, largely due to DeMint's ongoing Senate Conservatives Fund effort. It's a powerful grass roots movement that is already a big part of our last chance to salvage fiscal sanity: The 2012 elections. Mandatory reading and a blueprint for grass roots organizing everywhere (including my own oh-so-blue state of Oregon). Buy this book.

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic! June 17, 2011

By Daniel D. Bunn

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book gives a wonderful roller-coaster ride through the political changes over the last 2 years. DeMint, brutally honest as always, gives a great eyewitness account of the happenings.

30 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Demint Strikes Again!! June 23, 2011

By N. Blackburn

Format:Paperback

I love Jim Demint..He has so a no-nonsense, take no prisoners, it really isn't rocket science manner of speaking about issues in Washington and impact the country. This book is no different.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Demint is a true patriot, doing what is right! July 14, 2011

By Juanita E. Estrada

Format:Paperback

Don't have the book yet, already know Jim Demint as a true patriot fighting for our country and for what is right and for what actually helps our country. Conservatives and libertarians believe in results (proven by history, results, economics 101, logic, actual science not junk science like global warming, and common sense, and individual liberty, left-wingers believe in rhetoric.

For economics vs govt, check out Bastiat, Hazlitt, Hayek, Milton Friedman, Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, and Thomas E. Woods' book Meltdown. Ayn Rand's Novel Atlas Shrugged, which is a page-turning read, shows how stupid politicians and meddling govt can destroy and impoverish a country.

Posting this because of the liberals who are acting up as usual with their attacks, they like using 1-star non-reviews.

I don't waste my time attacking their b.s. books, but left-wing nuts spend all their time attacking rather than thinking or questioning the results of all left-wing policies and why they never work or make things worse, they just believe all their propaganda talking points.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting perspective of Washington's problems. August 14, 2011

By tonofhel

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

"The Great American Awakening" by South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint is a great analysis into what's wrong with our country and what we can do to fix it. He argues that Washington is spending our country to death and that we as a people need to realize this.

While my personal economic beliefs are more liberal, It's nice to see a Republican who walks his walk as well as talk his talk. Consider this: conservatives praise Ronald Reagan despite the fact that he ran (at the time) record deficits, and tripled our debt: he inherited a debt of 900 billion dollars and turned it into 2.6 trillion dollars from fiscal years 1980 to 1988. Conservatives also love to demonize Bill Clinton, even though Clinton lowered our deficits and balanced the budget. Seems contradictory to me. Jim DeMint, however, gives fair criticism to George W. Bush for the bailout and his incessant spending spree. He also gives well-deserved criticism to Barack Obama and his spending. While Bush was the first president to experience trillion dollar deficits, the fact that Obama increased this by 50% after only one year is cause for alarm.

While DeMint's partisanship in this book can get obnoxious (as conservatives and liberals do alike) he presents an honest account of what's wrong with Washington's checkbook. Here's hoping more people listen to what he has to say. From what I've researched he takes his issues seriously, working on many committees with an impact on our nation's financial priorities.

On one final note: The Tea Party. While they seem like a substantial peoples' movement, the question is how much pull do they really have on this country, and how long will they be around before folding back into the GOP?... While I enjoy their talk of fiscal restraint, I'm disengaged by their simplistic, black-and-white view of national policy. And as noted above, will they still argue for fiscal sanity when a spend-happy Republican is back in the White House? Or maybe it's only when Democrats are in power that they care about these issues. Read more ›

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Great American Awakening August 21, 2011

By Gerald Blomberg

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Good sequence of events as viewed by Jim DeMint. Very informative, if you like political history. Offers insight into the behind scenes action of both parties.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars At times, an immensely personal book August 1, 2011

By Sally McC

Format:Paperback

This is a look at the two years between 2008's Presidential election and the 2010 mid-terms from someone who was in the middle of the action. So much happened in Washington during that time that it's impossible for the average person to remember it all. The details of the executive orders President Obama issued in the days after his inauguration left me breathless, even though I knew about the majority of them. And I'd forgotten that Rick Santelli's tea party rant took place less than one month after that inauguration. Anyone who thinks that the Tea Party is a GOP creation needs to remember that Rick Santelli was a CNBC reporter who had seen enough and had enough. His spontaneous rant on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange - cheered on by the traders behind him - was the 21st century's 'shot heard around the world.'

DeMint's book isn't just about the politics and policies. It is, at times, immensely personal. The Senator from South Carolina has written of the isolation he felt when he began the fight against the status quo, even among his fellow Republicans. He was ostracized when he opted to support political newcomers instead of party incumbents. It's telling that Chapter 1 is called Becoming an Outcast. For DeMint, the birth of the Tea Party movement was a sign that he wasn't alone. He also writes candidly of learning that his wife, Debbie, had breast cancer. "My world seemed to go dark, and the cold around me penetrated my soul. Debbie shouldn't have been alone at a time like this." He contemplated not running for re-election, but, "To my amazement, Debbie said we couldn't quit. She thought I should run again and stay in the fight." It is telling that many of DeMint's decisions - including this one - are made after prayer.... DeMint's faith is a constant throughout the book.

At the time of writing this review, Jim DeMint has announced he will not run for a third term. I suspect, however, that he will remain a strong force behind the scenes with his Senate Conservatives Fund. I pray that the Great American Awakening he has described here will continue after his time in Congress has ended.

I won this book in a random contest on the B & H Publishing Group website. I was not required to write a review, positive or negative. I have chosen to write this review and all words - with the exception of the quotes in paragraph 2 - are my own. Read more ›