Life and Lowlife Behind the Political Headlines.

In her memoir, Enough, Cassidy Hutchinson describes her birthplace in Pennington, NJ, and early life leading up to her comet like ascension into Washington DC’s halls of power at an early age. She interned in her 20th year for Sen. Ted Cruz in 2016, interned at 21 years for Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise in 2017, at 22 years she interned at the White House Office of Legislative Affairs in 2018, in 2019 was the first in her family to graduate college (Christopher Newport University), at 23 years she was employed full time at the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, and by age 24, Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ principal assistant (March 2020), her desk a few seconds walk to the Oval Office. By the time she was 25, US Marshalls were knocking at her apartment door to deliver a subpoena from the Jan 6 Committee to meet with them and answer questions. 

The most stunning part of the book, for me, were the revelations about her biological father, and his treatment of her throughout her life to date. She does include him in her touching “Acknowledgments” in the book’s beginning, but to be a child on the receiving end of such a parent has to wound deeply. Hutchinson writes, “not every successful man is a good father, but every good father is, undoubtedly, a successful man.” Thankfully her mother, who ultimately divorced the dad, remarried, and she and her husband remained staunch supporters of Hutchinson, as did her maternal aunt and uncle. 

The second remarkable aspect of this book is how well organized and focused under pressure Hutchinson is, whether she’s filling out internship applications, strategizing the best way to accomplish her goals tailored to different specific settings, best utilizing human resources to achieve objectives, or managing crises, which is akin to teaching yourself to swim while you’re drowning to save your own life. The DC power players can be intimidating, to say the least, but to a person in their mid twenties they could be crushing if you let them. There are prima donnas on both sides of the aisle, and her anecdotes are vivid. 

Once everyone in her sphere understood subpoenas would be forthcoming from the Jan 6 committee, there was no staff training for what to do, everyone was on their own, and it was open season on younger, less financially secure recipients. The abject fear of what the imminent future held was like being a squirrel in the fast lane with headlights approaching. It’s hard to think straight. Hutchinson’s approach to finding an attorney in her price range of pro bono, was nothing short of heroic. She had a stroke of absolute genius to search for someone who was an historic counterpoint to her current situation, and seek out testimony or documents that could serve as an informational lodestar to her coming journey into testimonial waters. It led her to a man and a book about his experiences that “would alter the course of my life.” She ordered two copies, and when they arrived, she read it three times that first night. It served as a lifeline for her throughout her stressful post election experiences. Later she met her then 97 year old inspiration, and her book includes a moving photograph of them together. 

Hutchinson’s narrative of her testimony is by now, well known, but the harrowing story of protecting her from the press, gawkers and her post testimony life is now well told. As for the politics, pick a side. Some facts have come to light in the last year that alter the credibility of certain power players, and no doubt will continue to do so as new information surfaces. An attorney once told me, “Just because someone thinks something, doesn’t make it so.” Press and politicians currently have as much credibility as beauty cream advertisers. This is Hutchinson’s story to tell, and her right to tell it as she experienced it from her front row seat. It is a fascinating read about life and lowlife behind the political headlines.