America in Danger: What You Must Know to Protect Yourself

by Stephen M. Studdert

Most everyone senses there is something seriously wrong with our country. Here is a call to action by a fearless Washington insider, the Honorable Stephen M. Studdert. He masterfully paints an astonishingly vivid and nuanced portrait of the problems existing within the hallowed halls of our political and economic world. He speaks with a voice of reason. America in Danger describes ten national and international situations with the potential to cause serious social, emotional, financial, and even physical harm to Americans in the near future. Stephen Studdert s Oval Office experience has given him knowledge and insights that are especially valuable today. As American citizens decide who they will elect as the next president, it is essential that the threats described in America in Danger be publicly discussed. If the American people do not understand the nature of these threats, they cannot ask the candidates the hard questions that will determine which candidate has the vision and toughness necessary to lead the nation at this critical time.

Genres: Nonfiction

264 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I ever wrote a book, I would NOT want the editor of this book to proofread my book. Good information - but lots of duplicated phrases, sentences or ideas and in general, just a bad editing job. Now I was no English major in college, but the following paragraph is ridiculous.
Example from the preface, pages ix - x
"To my surprise, thousands of them were waving American flags - which was especially meaningful and touching as Poland was still a Communist country, where the display of American flags was against the law. Many of these flags had the wrong numbers of stars, less than fifty stars, even some less than forty-eight stars. These were American flags that freedom-seeking Poles had hidden away under mattresses and in attics for thirty or forty of fifty years as a reminder of the example for their dreams of a better way of life, a life of peace and prosperity. There were also American flags of the wrong color blues, the wrong color reds, the wrong number of stars and bars. These were flags that freedom-seeking Poles had hidden away for thirty, forty or fifty years, or had handmade for the occasion, brought out to honor this visit by America's President. And there were handmade American flags, brought out to honor the American president and as an expression of that for which they were willing to give their lives."

No joke - that is really what the second paragraph of the book says. A very bad editing job.

But if a bad editing job doesn't annoy you too much and you can look past it, I would recommend this book. The information in this book is really quite informative and if you were a supporter of government funded entitlement programs before, you may just change your mind once you discover just how much our government is in debt. Also, if you were a big supporter of the Republican Congress and Senate that was voted in about 8 years ago, you will most likely rethink your support of those particular politicians as well. The most disheartening fact that I came face to face with during reading this book is to realize that the Republican party, which has a party platform of being fiscally conservative and small government, truly let us down over the last 8 years. It's no wonder so many Democrats got elected in during this last election. When Republicans act like Democrats, we might as well elect the people who will actually do what they say they will (create more federally funded entitlement programs) instead of people who do the exact opposite of what they say they will.

I also would personally trust what this author has to say since he was my friend Brandon's LDS mission president, in addition to being a White House adviser and senior adviser during 4 president's terms.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the positive side, it is educational and I learned from it. But besides being rather poorly written, I was disappointed that it didn't tell me HOW to protect myself. Mostly, it was just a long litany of dangers our country faces. Broken down by chapter, those dangers are (1) Ignoring the global economy of today's world; (2) Our national debt (which has increased since this book was published in 2007); (3) Insolvency of safety nets like social security, pensions, & medicare/medicaid; (4) Radical Islam and Terrorism; (5) Federal Government Stupidity (love the title of this chapter); (6) The housing bubble (which totally burst after the printing of this book); (7) Oil; (8) Immigration Insanity; (9) Pandemics; (10) and America's Failing Infrastructure. So many events have occured since the printing of this book only 3 years ago, For example, he talks about other countries starting to pull out of the US dollar and investing in the Euro. Now the Euro is crashing too. What to do to protect ourselves? I would like to read a more current analysis. Any recommendations?

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be a confirmation to everything I have been noticing, thinking/feeling, and reading about our country and the direction it is headed. I found it to be interesting that the information came from a former White House staffer. I found it to be excellent in informing the general public of the conditions--those who aren't into following politics and the current issues of our nation. I also found it to be excellent in giving sound, simple advice as to what power each of us as Americans have. My favorite part was the end, when he stated that each of us NEED TO GET INVOLVED IN THE AFFAIRS OF OUR NATION!! A very patriotic, very straight-forward book! A must read!

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Mr. Studdert is accurate in the information he portrays. It's interesting to see the course of the US right now and see how it falls in line with the information he has shared, i.e. current economic woes and the sleeping/hidden giants/enemies in other countries. We are too complacent. I agree wholeheartedly on the poor editing in the book and some redundancy... but I just skimmed where I needed to and I can make the leap as to what word was intended... whether that was the word used or not. It is scary but it just means we have to be more pro-active... what could be more scary than that! It wasn't a quick read.

[Glenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book gives a lot of good information, there is a lot of "Shock" value. There is quite a bit of speculation that is not really backed up by factual evidence.

While the topics discussed should be of great concern to many of us, the reality of some of the things happening in the near future seems unlikely. Could they happen? Absolutely. . .

People should be aware of the topics discussed and use their own determination to decide for themselves what to do to protect their freedoms and finances for their generation and future generations.

[Alistair Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephen M Studdart was a former Senior White House Advisor to Presidents George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford and he is LDS. The book is so intriguing and frightening in its depth and clarity of insight you just know he is telling the truth. I was scared many times! It was the catalyst for me to start keeping an eye on the world financial markets. He foretold the failure of both Fanniy Mae and Freddie Mac a year in advance. The result is an uncomplicated diagnosis of the true condition and dangers facing the USA

[Annamarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting and disturbing book. I'm really glad I read it. It will definately influence me to communicate more with my elected representatives.
I do feel that Mr. Studdert had an editor that didn't do his job as well as he could have. I think that good editors catch mistakes and tighten things up more than his did. I don't know his editor or the situation, so I'm just wondering what happened there.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm NOT impressed with the editing that was done on this book. There are a lot of typo-type mistakes (compLete vs. compete) and a ton of redundant thoughts, some quite close to each other, that good editing should have cleaned up.

Some of the facts that are presented are interesting, but the style of the book can only be classified as fear-mongering.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting perspective. Not a lot of new ideas, but definitely covers essential issues to be aware of. The author's arguments about the problem with escalating national debt are a little weak. However, some of the issues facing the financial community are spot on.

[LINDSAY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Be an educated citizen and read the book. Everyone should read it before you ever vote. Horrible Spelling and Grammer, but that's not why I read the book. Great information and insight. My husband knows Mr Studdert and knows what an honest and great man he is. It's worth the read.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a hard read. Some excellent points, others seem a little outlandish and the author seems to have a poor understanding of military principles and ideas at times. Overall OK. Just OK.

[Heidi]

This book was written by Ben's mission president. He served with a couple of the american presidents. He's a very moving man when you hear him speak.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yikes.

[Chanelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative in a fun and interesting way.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frightening, clear presentation of dangers facing our nation that will likely affect all American citizens.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The warnings about where America is headed are timely if somewhat alarming. But the editing is so poor (obvious typos, grammatical and spelling errors) it drove me crazy.

[Mark Blackham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this book before they vote for local, state, and national elections. We have many looming issues that can create havoc on their own. Be an educated citizen, read this book.