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Reporters took a look at a 'stress test of our democracy'

U.S. Army Sgt. Charlotte Carulli
/
Department of Defense
Even as Joseph Biden took the presidential oath of office, the results of the 2020 election were being contested by his predecessor.

A deep dive from the 2020 election through Joe Biden's first year as president reveals the struggle to hold the country together.

Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, national political correspondents with The New York Times, joined forces for a closer look at the elements that brought us to this telling moment in American history — where we not only disagree on who should win an election, but on who won.

The resulting book, "This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future," reveals that both the Republican and Democratic parties are suffering cracks internally as sects within each struggle to control the narrative of their party. Martin and Burns wanted to shine a bright light on the players involved.

Says Martin, "This period in American history demanded something more, a more comprehensive account of how we were, and are, living through a kind of stress test of our democracy."

  • Jonathan Martin is a national political correspondent for The New York Times and a political analyst for CNN
  • Alexander Burns is a national political correspondent for The New York Times and a political analyst for CNN
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