It was as if time had folded in on itself. Had American history entered an alternate universe? Was this some new historical fiction produced on Amazon Prime? The neo-American version of The Man in the High Castle? In this eerily familiar new world, Hillary Clinton had not won the election after all. Donald Trump had. What did it mean? How had the historic Clinton machine sputtered and failed at the last minute? What had the pollsters and pundits and corporate television executives gotten wrong?

This first authoritative account of the precipitous fall of Hillary Clinton and the rise of Donald Trump describes how the scandals of a lifetime finally reached critical mass for both candidates, though with differing results. It shows how, during the last few days of the campaign, some on Clinton's staff saw the ghostly fog of defeat creeping up on them but were helpless to act, frozen by the self-denial. This is the story of how, despite reportedly spending more money on her campaign than any presidential candidate in history, Hillary Clinton fell at the last hurdle.

And it is the story of how, against all odds, Donald Trump won the presidency.

About the Author

Doug Wead has been an employee of ten presidential campaigns. He began as a writer for Ronald Reagan in 1979. In 1989 George H.W. Bush brought him on to senior staff at the White House as special assistant to the president and, most recently, he served as a senior adviser to Senator Rand Paul. He is a regular TV commentator and the author of All the Presidents' Children: Triumph and Tragedy in the Lives of America's First Families.