THREAD on Thanksgiving and Impeachment. This Thanksgiving I’m so, so grateful for the entire team that made my book Impeach (released Tuesday) happen. The story is a bit nuts…
amazon.com/gp/product/035…
indiebound.org/book/978035839…
amazon.com/gp/product/035…
indiebound.org/book/978035839…
1.On Sept 20, just as the first mentions of the Ukraine allegations were starting to come out, I wrote an op-ed with the unparalleled George Conway, @gtconway3d, saying we thought this was going to merit a serious call for impeachment. When we wrote it, a lot of people disagreed.
@gtconway3d 2.I was at dinner with friends on October 4 at the amazing @maydandc. By then, it was clear George and I were right. I asked my friends what they thought I should do in the weeks to come. One, Howard Yoon,said “Neal, I know you’ll hate this, but I think you need to write a book.”
3.I reacted at the table by saying we didn’t have time to write a book. Howard said he thought I could do it, particularly if I found a collaborator.
4. I also reacted at the table by saying I thought a book would be outdated by the time it came out. I said no way, went home and to sleep.
5. I woke up at 2am, realizing that the outdated point cut the other way. That there was a simple, clear case for impeachment, and Trump was going to do everything possible to throw up chaff to distract us from it. That was the need for the book.
6. I started writing the proposal. Finished the first draft in a couple of hours.
7. I made 1 call to a potential collaborator the next day, Sam Koppelman, @SammyKoppelman. There was no one else I wanted.
@SammyKoppelman 8. I met Sam because my alma mater @yalelawsch asked me to give the commencement address this year. I was beyond freaked out. I showed draft #49 to one of the wisest, most elegant and emotional writers on the planet, my dear friend @BrianKoppelman.
9. He suggested I show my Yale draft speech to his son Sam. Sam made the speech SO much better. He has that crazy gift of making things sing. So I called Sam about the book. He said yes.
10. We then wrote the book over 2 weeks. We wanted it to be concise and clear – written for people who don’t have law degrees, whose minds were on the fence and for people who hadn’t followed impeachment at all.
11. I think a lot of nonfiction is boring. I wanted it to be a page-turner, focused ruthlessly on the facts, but presented in a way that captures people’s attention.
12. The book covers everything from the history of impeachment & the 1787 constitutional convention, to the impeachments of Presidents Johnson, Nixon, and Clinton. And it details what Trump did in Ukraine and why it’s a core impeachable offense. npr.org/2019/11/25/782…
13. A chapter in the book outlines what I think should happen, and in particular 3 specific Articles of Impeachment. I talked about these 3 Articles on @Lawrence last night.
14. It’s notable that Trump’s allies have largely given up trying to defend what Trump did, and instead are just attacking the impeachment process. I went into some detail re that with Christiane Amanpour this week.
15. Anyway, Sam and I finished our first draft in a single week, and then spent the next week cutting and polishing.
16. We sent the proposal to publishers a few days after that dinner at Maydan, told them that speed was essential, that the impeachment hearings were going to start and we wanted to influence the debate and guide Americans through it.
17. We quickly learned that publishing is a totally antiquated business – there was a tree shortage, delays with shipping paper from overseas, etc. We went with @HMHCO, a legendary house who promised if we could give them the book October 25, it would be on shelves Nov. 26. Wow.
18. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt worked day and night to get it done. Designing cover art, lining up the printing presses, getting the trucks organized to ship the thing,etc. We are so grateful to them. The book went from random idea over dinner to bookshelves in less than 2 months
19. In Britain, @canongatebooks did the same thing – rushing to get the book out.
@TIME 21. Grateful to @newsweek for running a second excerpt this week. newsweek.com/neal-katyal-tr…
22.My amazing management team at @FriendsAtWork led by @tystiklorius helped pump up the volume, even coordinating the book announcement with the one and only @johnlegend at the @VanityFair summit in October.
23.So many others supported us along the way. I’m so thankful to all of them. (Oh, and if you want an Impeach-Mat to guide a civil Thanksgiving dinner conversation about impeachment, they are on my new website nealkatyal.com and downloadable for free.)
24.In particular, Elena Vazquez, Jake Leffew, and @julieatate did so much research and fact checking for us, it was incredible.
25.So grateful to for many who have put country over party, and inspired and energized me. People like @gtconway3d, @GenMhayden, @NicolleDWallace, @BillKristol, @maxboot.
26.Grateful to all those proud civil servants, like Dr. Fiona Hill, who go in and do their duty regardless of politics.
27.But my greatest thanks go to Sam, who is going to be recognized as one of the great nonfiction writers of the next generation.
28.I am convinced that if you read the book with an open mind, whether you are a Republican, Dem, or Independent, you can come away with only 1 conclusion: Trump must be removed from office due to his attempt to cheat in the 2020 election w/a foreign government.
29. I use the same simple tool I use w/my law students: imagine the parties were reversed. If Obama secretly tried to get help from a foreign govt in his election campaign, how would you feel? And if you let him stay in office, what are you telling future Presidents they can do?
30.So grateful to see people react to the argument of the book. Means a crazy amount to have legends like Larry Tribe say things about the book like this.
31.And so grateful for others, like another legend, Professor Cass Sunstein.
32.The book was dedicated to the memory of my dad, a lovely man who passed away far too early. I know he’d want me to fight in the way that I am. The dedication also had special resonance for me given I met Sam through his father.
33.Finally, I know I’ve tried your patience with endless tweets about my book. I’m sorry! If it helps, I’m donating all the profits to charity. I wrote the book to influence the debate, not for a buck.
34.I wish all of you a great Thanksgiving. END
