New Book
Two friends—a Democrat and a Republican—travel across America “on a deeply personal journey through the heart of a divided nation . . . to find growth, hope and fundamental strength in their own lives” (Bob Woodward) and the country they love, in good times and bad. In the year before Donald Trump was elected president, Jordan Blashek, a Republican Marine, and Chris Haugh, a Democrat from Berkeley, CA, formed an unlikely friendship. Jordan was fresh off his service in the Marines and feeling a bit out of place at Yale Law School. Chris was yearning for a sense of mission after leaving Washington D.C. Over the months, Jordan and Chris’s friendship blossomed not in spite of, but because of, their political differences. So they decided to hit the road in search of reasons to strengthen their bond in an era of strife and partisanship. What follows is a three-year adventure story, across forty-four states and along 20,000 miles of road to find out exactly where the American experiment stands at the close of the second decade of the twenty-first century. In their search, Jordan and Chris go from the tear gas-soaked streets of a Trump rally in Phoenix, Arizona to the Mexican highways running between Tijuana and Juarez. They witness the full scope of American life, from lobster trawlers and jazz clubs of Portland and New Orleans to the streets of Tulsa, Oklahoma and the prisons of Detroit, where former addicts and inmates painstakingly put their lives back together. Union is a road narrative, a civics lesson, and an unforgettable window into one epic friendship. We ride along with Jordan and Chris for the whole journey, listening in on front-seat arguments and their conversations with Americans from coast to coast. We also peer outside the car to understand America’s hot-button topics, including immigration, mass incarceration, and the military-civilian divide. And by the time Jordan and Chris kill the engine for the last time, they answer one of the most pressing questions of our time: How far apart are we really?
About the Authors:
Jordan Blashek is a Republican, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, and an aspiring business leader. He grew up in a Jewish family in Encino, California. After graduating from Princeton University in 2009, he spent five years in the Marines as an infantry office and was awarded two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals. Jordan has published articles in the Marine Corps Gazette, the American Thinker, and the British Medical Journal. He holds degrees from Yale Law School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Princeton University, and currently works at a venture firm for public benefit created by the CEO of Alphabet.
Christopher Haugh is a journalist, speechwriter, and attorney from Kensington, California. After graduating with highest honors from the University of California, Berkeley, Chris attended Oxford University and started speechwriting as an intern in the Obama White House. He went on to join the U.S. Department of State’s Policy Planning Staff where he served as a speechwriter to the Secretary. In 2018, Chris graduated from Yale Law School where he was a Yale Journalism Scholar. Chris is currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York.
Christopher Haugh & Jordan Blashek Talk About Their Book “Union: A Democrat, a Republican, and a Search for Common Ground”
Union: A Democrat, a Republican, and a Search for Common Ground Reviews:
“Jordan Blashek and Christopher Haugh’s friendship is an unlikely one in our politically polarized era. Union proves that even when our politics may seem worlds apart, there is always room for conversation and respect.” —California Magazine, Editor’s Pick
“In a country reeling from partisan bickering, protests over racial injustice, pandemic stress and a polarizing president, the book explores the national divide through the authors’ unlikely friendship and a series of road trips across the country.” —New Haven Register
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