The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy
by Michael Lewis
Edmond Gagnon‘s review Oct 07, 2020 

This is not the type of book I normally read but the author’s name caught my attention. Michael Lewis wrote Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, The Blind Side, and The Big Short, all stories that I’ve seen as movies. And being that the Fifth Risk is about Donald Trump, I figured it was worth a read.
The book caught my interest early, tempting me with how the Donald botched his transition into the White House. The author compares past presidents Obama and Bush and how they came to office prepared, and with experts who could fill the important top positions in various departments of government.
It was no surprise to me how the businessman turned president was totally unprepared for the massive undertaking and came in with only his family and a few friends to take over one of the most powerful countries in the world.
The story is about how the president took up to six months to fill some of those jobs for departments like energy where they control unimportant things like nuclear weapons. It goes on to tell how the Donald filled positions previously held by experienced scientists with wealthy buddies who had no idea what they were getting into and no interest it what the job was all about. Scary stuff.
Lewis talks about how the president has surrounded himself with yes men and how no one is allowed to tell him anything negative. They are fired if they do.
Much of this book was dry and boring…parts where the author went into all sorts of detail and backstory about the people who were replaced by the incoming president.
If you want a scary look inside the Trump administration, The Fifth Risk is worth a read.