The long-awaited telling of Columbus native and former Vice President Mike Pence’s side of the story is about to be revealed.
On Tuesday, Simon & Schuster will publish “So Help Me God,” Pence’s autobiography.
It is the latest in a long line of books published in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 election, which led to an insurrectionist attack on the Capitol Jan. 6 that put Pence in the cross-hairs of insurrectionists who shouted “Hang Mike Pence,” while breaking into the historic building and trashing it.
And that’s just the preface.
But the book is far more than a retelling of just those crucial hours where democracy hung on Pence’s decision, which ultimately was to stay at the Capitol, defy Trump’s demand that he somehow block the certification of Biden’s victory, and then reconvening Congress to “complete the work of a peaceful transfer of power.”
The 523-page book follows Pence’s life story from his upbringing in Columbus to, as the publishers describe it, “how a JFK-loving, Irish Catholic Hoosier fell for the Reagan Revolution.”
The book covers Pence’s time as a talk radio host, what he learned from the Religious Freedom Restoration Act controversy while he was Indiana governor in 2015, and when he realized that Trump “had a real chance of winning the presidency in 2016.”
How Pence was selected to run on the ticket, details about the campaign and what Pence terms as the major successes of the Trump administration are covered in the book.
Also covered in these pages are the moments between then-President Trump and Pence in the days preceding Jan. 6, what was said between them, and when, according to the publishers.
Pence also details the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, his assignment to organize operation Warp Speed, and his efforts to “broker peace” when Trump and the nation’s governors had disagreements over pandemic restrictions.
The publishers describe the book as “the most robust defense of the Trump record of anyone who served in the administration.”
“This is the inside story of the Trump administration by its second highest official — what he said to the president and how he was tested,” the pre-release publicity states. “The relationship begins in Indiana, when Pence sees how Trump maintains that connection through unvarnished tweets and how his unorthodox style led to historic breakthroughs, from tax cuts to trade deals, from establishing the U.S. Space Force to the first new peace agreement in the Middle East in more than 25 years.”
But there are also the issues of Pence’s reaction to the Trump Access Hollywood tape, and “how he came to forgive the president thanks to his wife, Karen.”
The book does detail that in one of the last conversations between Trump and Pence, Pence tells the outgoing president he will pray for him, and the response to that from Trump is provided in the book.
It is also somewhat of a love letter to Columbus and people in the community who have given him and his family unwavering support through the tumultous four years of the Trump administration, combined with a pandemic.
Readers will note that Pence has dedicated the book to his wife Karen, describing her as the love of his life.
Each chapter leads with a Bible verse and there are family photos shared in two sections.
In the chapter “So Help Me God,” Pence quotes Psalm 15:4, “Who keeps an oath even when it hurts.”
Pence, who is widely presumed to be a likely presidential candidate in 2024, returned home to the GOP election night watch party Tuesday night, and deflected a question about Trump’s plan to make a “major announcement” on the same day of his book release.
“Others will be making their announcements and others will be making their intentions known, but we’re going to stay focused on telling our story and celebrating really what I think are the great accomplishments of the Trump-Pence administration,” Pence said while meeting with friends and supporters at the Factory 12 Loft.
“We write about everything from the very beginning to the very end,” he said of the book. … The book ends on the day of inauguration.”
It is noted also in the pre-publicity that Pence gave Trump “the best possible advice in the wake of their defeat in 2020, and offers insight into why he and Karen attended Biden’s inauguration, although the Trumps did not.
