This is a GREAT book on compact discs. Cruz read the introduction and a professional reader read the rest of the book. I already admired Cruz before listening to his book for two principle reasons. First, he was willing to filibuster against the funding of Obamacare despite the media and his own party leaders throwing him under the bus for trumped up reasons. Second, he recently called out Mitch McConnell for the rat he is. He is one of the few politicians who is/was willing to take on the establishment Republicans and Democrats in Washington D.C. and elsewhere. The big plus for me was that I learned a lot more about Cruz by listening to his story, than I would have ever learned by allowing the media to misrepresent the truth about him. For him to tout a personal profession of faith in our Lord Christ Jesus in his book, tells you something about the character of the man. Few politicians are willing to do such a thing in such a clear manner as Cruz did. As a result of having read this book, I believe that Cruz is the best choice for U.S. President in 2016. Cruz has pledged to dismantle all of the illegal executive orders that the Obama administration issued during its term and to move the country back into a position of power and respect with respect to other countries in the world instead of being the world's laughing stock. Over the years, I have found that it is best to judge a man by his deepest convictions and his actions and NOT by his words alone. Ted Cruz appears to be a man who is a committed Christian, a Constitutionalist, a fighter, and a man of generally high integrity. Furthermore, he has a RECORD of fighting for truth, defending the Constitution, and leading in the right direction. No other man or woman who is currently running for the presidency holds all of those distinctions.

A stunning expose' of the "old boy" system that permeates our political class. There is no longer a separation of parties, both are now blurred into one seething, wheezing, corrupt and slimy body of allied, greedy and selfish individuals who obviously do not care for the great country that has given them every opportunity to take advantage of a system founded on virtue. No more. They are all for one and one for all in an effort to reap the material benefits and power for themselves and walk all over the people who have given them permission to govern. They are what forms the disease of Washington and they will cause the destruction of this once great nation. Cruz tells it like it is with no fear or shame. For that he is to be given great credit since it would have been less complicated and more favorable for him to have played ball. He is to be commended for his true courage in the light of the evil that surrounds him at this time. No matter what party a reader of this book belongs to, if one has the intelligence and is open to the truth, this is a good book to learn what is in store for all Americans Liberal or Conservative.

Many of the presidential candidates for 2016 have books out, which can serve to introduce themselves and/or discuss where they stand on the issues. Such books are typically second rate, but this one is worth reading if you’re undecided as to who the Republican candidate should be and potentially interested in supporting a conservative.

Most of the book is devoted to Cruz’s family background, early years, academic career at Princeton and Harvard Law School, and career thus far (culminating in his election as a US senator in 2012). It’s an authentic account, including triumphs, defeats, and some incidents that must have been a bit embarrassing to disclose. And while it’s true that Cruz has spent most of his life in intellectual endeavors, he does have some administrative experience under his belt – notably as solicitor general for the State of Texas.

The picture that emerges from the book is of a man who is highly intelligent, disciplined, and driven to succeed. Cruz cares about principles and will go to great lengths to uphold them. Not blessed with athletic ability (his story of playing tennis with Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Rehnquist’s other two clerks is hilarious) or a naturally outgoing personality, he has struggled at times with personal relationships.

In political terms, Cruz is a solid conservative. He has often angered other Republicans for refusing to “go along to get along.” Thus, the atmosphere at a Senate Republican lunch on February 11, 2014 turned acrimonious after Cruz objected to a proposal to forego a filibuster of a bill to raise the debt ceiling. Not only would this ensure the debt ceiling would rise without any quid pro quo, he writes, but it would permit Republican senators to vote against the increase for which they had just cleared the way.

Is it admirable to take such a stand, or simply quixotic as the Wall Street Journal and others maintained? One could argue the case either way. Clearly, the debt limit was bound to go up. Cruz is right about the hypocrisy of congressional Republicans who espouse conservative principles on the campaign trail and ignore them in DC, however, and he made his point without stooping to personal attacks.

Is Cruz too far to the right to be electable? Many might think so, but he argues otherwise – citing the success of President Ronald Reagan in winning the support of Democrats in the 1980s. “When you paint in bold colors, two big things happen: You turn out the base by the millions; and you earn more crossover votes.”

Remember how the GOP presidential candidate wrote off 47% of the population in 2012 – Mitt Romney’s unguarded comments at a fundraiser were captured in a bootlegged video and would haunt him throughout the campaign. The mistake was not in saying many low income Americans would be hard to reach, that was simply a fact, but in failing to recognize that they could potentially be reached by articulating conservative principles in a positive versus apologetic fashion. For example, minimum wage laws don‘t help people at the bottom; instead, such laws make it harder for the unemployed to find jobs and trap them in long-term dependency.

Cruz goes on to outline a positive (albeit rather general) agenda for conservatives. Some of the goals seem like a stretch, but perhaps they shouldn’t be taken too literally.

•Rollback “excessive government regulations” that kill jobs and restrict opportunities. For example, repeal Obamacare, stop the EPA from “strangling the American energy renaissance,” audit the Federal Reserve and stop its “endless quantitative easing that is debasing our currency.”

•Lower taxes and fundamentally reform the tax code to make it fairer and simpler. Using the flat tax proposal of Steve Forbes as a model, Cruz claims, “we can abolish the IRS.”

•Implement educational reforms, such as vouchers and scholarships and charter schools, so children won’t be trapped in bad schools due to “their race, ethnicity, income level, or simply because they live in the wrong zip codes.”

•Support Social Security reform and personal retirement accounts, which will allow low-income Americans to accumulate wealth on their own and pass it on to their children and grandchildren.

•Rebuild the US military, and make sure it has the right mission. “If and when military force is required, it should begin with a clearly defined objective, directly tied to our national security interests. We should use overwhelming force, and then we should get the heck out.”

Conclusion: here is a well-argued case that deserves to be taken seriously.