A Time for Truth by Ted Cruz

A Time for Truth: Reigniting the Promise of America
by Ted Cruz

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Broadside Books (June 30, 2015)
ISBN-13: 978-0062365613
Kindle: 8223 KB
Publisher: Broadside e-books (June 30, 2015)
ASIN: B00MTSKHTU
Available on Amazon

All Out Of Bubblegum

I picked this up yesterday, from the library, mainly because Ted Cruz has just won the Iowa caucus. At 400 pages it's a pretty thick book, and I haven't finished it yet - right now I am skimming and reading parts that seems interesting. But I thought I might as well post about it since others might be interested.

I should state my biases up front. I don't have a favored candidate in the Presidential race. There are those I do not plan to vote for; as for the others I am neutral. (I got this way after one too many disappointments - it seems like every time I get on board with a candidate they lose, so now I just watch from the sidelines.) I am neutral on Ted Cruz as a Presidential candidate. There is a lot of things I like about him as a Senator, and I thought I knew enough about him not to have to read his book to get an opinion. So getting a copy of A Time for Truth was a spur of the moment act. I'm glad I acted on that impulse.


Cruz's introduction to the book is titled "Mendacity" and it starts with this:

Pandemonium ensued. There were angry glares, heated accusations. Red-faced name-calling echoed off the walls and vaulted ceilings in a room just off the main corridor of the U.S. Capitol. It was Tuesday, February 11, 2014. Another lunch of the Senate Republicans.

Pretty good, right? Cruz's introduction makes the case that the "fraternal order" of Republicans in DC no longer act in the interest of the people, describing the shenanigans that went on with just one of their kabuki theater scenes in the debt ceiling negotiations.

The book itself then weaves back and forth between stories about people in DC who have influenced Cruz, and stories about Cruz's life - his background, his family, growing up, getting into Princeton and Harvard, clerking for Chief Justice Rehnquist, his career - that's basically at the point I am now.

Reading the book, I'm learning that in school Cruz really was, and I say this with admiration, a nerd, working long hours, determined to excel. He got into Princeton, that year his parents business went bankrupt and he was basically on his own financially at age seventeen. He's ambitious and works his butt off to reach his goals.

The other thing I am learning about Cruz, which I had pretty much suspected from watching his Senate career, is that he someone who believes in arguing the facts and supporting the truth, over getting along. You know those personality tests which ask you "what's more important, winning the argument or preserving harmony" I suspect that Cruz will pick winning the argument every time. (Except maybe with his wife. His wife Wendy, by the way, appears to be a lot like him, a talented workaholic who puts in long hours to reach her goals.)

It's actually pretty interesting - feels like reading a biography. Regardless of how Cruz does in the Presidential race, I have a feeling he will be an influential figure for many years to come.

Reviewed by VM on February 3, 2016