Original Sin

Original Sin is not merely an exposé of one man’s decline—it is a study of how myth, denial, and loyalty can corrode democracy. Tapper and Thompson reveal that Biden’s greatest strength—his resilience—became his undoing when it blinded him to reality. His aides and family, fearing both loss and Trump, rationalized deception as patriotism. From heavily edited videos to loyalty policing, the White House became an ecosystem of self-deception that eventually collapsed under public scrutiny.

The book’s deeper message is about institutional fragility. When political parties prioritize optics over honesty, and when leaders equate self-preservation with virtue, the mechanisms of democracy fail. Tapper presents Original Sin as both autopsy and warning: that the American presidency, reimagined as performance rather than governance, can no longer sustain the weight of denial without breaking public faith entirely.

Jake Tapper is an Emmy Award–winning journalist, CNN anchor, and bestselling author known for combining political analysis with historical narrative. A graduate of Harvard University, Tapper began his career as a Washington City Paper reporter before joining ABC News and later CNN, where he has anchored The Lead and State of the Union. His previous works include The Outpost, a deeply reported account of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, and The Devil May Dance, a political thriller about corruption and celebrity in 1960s Washington. In Original Sin, Tapper merges investigative journalism with storytelling to document a presidency unraveling under the weight of secrecy, grief, and ambition.