DeSantis’s New Memoir Rips Liberals But Says Little About Himself — or Trump

Florida governor’s book a likely prelude to 2024 campaign
DeSantis rails against “woke” liberals, media, tech companies

Ron DeSantis’s book “The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival”Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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By Nancy Cook, Michael Smith, and Mark Niquette

February 28, 2023 at 6:53 PM UTC

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s memoir, “The Courage to Be Free,” illustrates his success transforming the Republican Party’s vision, from limiting government’s reach in American lives to expanding it so broadly that even school boards become political battlegrounds.

But readers curious about the man expected to try to dethrone former President Donald Trump as the GOP’s standard-bearer will find little insight in his roughly 250-page book, which is light on details about his upbringing, family or life before politics. It also offers little criticism of Trump, and DeSantis does not hint at a 2024 presidential run.