 | |
| Author | Kevin Roberts |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | American Politics |
| Genre | Nonfiction |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
Publication date | November 12, 2024 |
| Publication place | United States |
| ISBN | 978-0-063-35350-3 (print) |
Dawn's Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America is a book written by The Heritage Foundation head Kevin Roberts, with a foreword by JD Vance.
The book was first scheduled for release on September 24, 2024, and was originally titled Dawn's Early Light: Burning Down Washington to Save America before being re-titled to Dawn's Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America. [1] The book's cover was also changed, the original featured a match. [2] [3]
The volume includes a foreword by JD Vance. [4] [5] [3] Amid the controversy surrounding Project 2025, in August 2024 Roberts postponed the book release until after the November election. [6] [7] Heritage and Project 2025 and Dawn's Early Light in particular were seen as potential liabilities by the campaign and as a result the campaign distanced itself from Heritage. [2] [8] Of the delay Roberts said “There’s a time for writing, reading and book tours, and a time to put down the books and go fight like hell to take back our country.” [9]
It was published by HarperCollins on November 12, 2024. [10] Publishing was handled by HarperCollins conservative imprint Broadside Books. [3] The launch party was held at the Kimberly Hotel in New York City. [2]
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In the foreword Vance writes that it is "time to circle the wagons and load the muskets." [11] [12]
The main section of the book starts with a quote from the Aeneid "My spirit kindles to fire, and rises in wrath to avenge my dying land." [13]
According to The New Statesman at the core of the book is the idea that America's institutions need to be destroyed in order to be rebuilt. [14]
Colin Dickey of The New Republic says the book reveals planned "paranoid, Stalinist tactics" like using conspiracy theories to violently enforce the right's vision for the world, [15] citing how Roberts criticizes birth control and law enforcement (preferring more of a heavily armed frontier-like society), while promoting public prayer as a key tool in the competition with China. [15]
Lloyd Green of The Guardian focused on Roberts' desire to burn it all down comparing him to a pyromaniac. [16]
Freddie Hayward of The New Statesman writes "Throughout Dawn’s Early Light, the enormity of the ends – the preservation of America – is used to justify extraordinary means." and notes that "Whatever the flaws in his argument, what should worry the left is Roberts’ moral certainty. Gone are the flaccid paeans to the supremacy of the free market; in their place is a conviction to march through America’s institutions with a flamethrower." [14]
William Woodard Self is an English writer, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Self is currently Professor of Modern Thought at Brunel University London, where he teaches psychogeography.
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The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a non-profit journalism school and research organization in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. The school is the owner of the Tampa Bay Times newspaper and the International Fact-Checking Network. It also operates PolitiFact.
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Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis is a 2016 memoir by the current Vice President of the United States JD Vance about the Appalachian values of his family from Kentucky and the socioeconomic problems of his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, where his mother's parents moved when they were young. It was adapted into the 2020 film Hillbilly Elegy, directed by Ron Howard and starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams. Vance would later be elected and serve as a Senator of Ohio in 2022, and as Vice President of the United States after the 2024 U.S. Presidential election.
James David Vance is an American politician, author, attorney, and Marine Corps veteran who has served as the 50th and current vice president of the United States since 2025 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Ohio in the U.S. Senate from 2023 until he resigned in order to assume the vice presidency.
Kevin David Roberts is an American historian and political strategist who is the president of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative political think tank, and its lobbying arm, Heritage Action. Prior to assuming his current role, he was the CEO of another conservative think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Roberts served as the president of Wyoming Catholic College from 2013 to 2016.
Hillbilly Elegy is a 2020 American biographical drama film directed by Ron Howard from a screenplay by Vanessa Taylor, based on the 2016 memoir of the same name by U.S. vice president JD Vance. The film stars Amy Adams and Glenn Close, and features Gabriel Basso, Haley Bennett, Freida Pinto, Bo Hopkins in his final film appearance, and Owen Asztalos.
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The 119th United States Congress is the current term of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened on January 3, 2025, during the final 17 days of Joe Biden's presidency, and the first two years of Donald Trump's second presidency.
The 2028 United States Senate elections will be held on November 7, 2028, with 34 of the 100 seats in the Senate being contested in regular elections, the winners of which will serve 6-year terms in the United States Congress from January 3, 2029, to January 3, 2035. Senators are divided into 3 groups or classes whose terms are staggered so that a different class is elected every 2 years. Class 3 senators were last elected in 2022, and will be up for election again in 2028. These elections will run concurrently with the 2028 United States presidential election.
Project 2025 is a political initiative published in April 2023 by the American conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation. The project aims to promote conservative and right-wing policies to reshape the federal government of the United States and consolidate executive power, originally under the premise that Donald Trump would win the 2024 presidential election.
Usha Chilukuri Vance is an American lawyer who has been Second Lady of the United States since January 2025, as the wife of Vice President JD Vance. She is the first Asian American and Hindu American in this role.
During his time in the U.S. Senate, JD Vance has been described as national conservative, right-wing populist, and an ideological successor to paleoconservatives such as Pat Buchanan. Vance describes himself, and has been described by others, as a member of the postliberal right. He is known for his ties to Silicon Valley. Vance has said he is "plugged into a lot of weird, right-wing subcultures" online. He has endorsed books by Heritage Foundation leader Kevin Roberts and far-right conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec.
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