Creation and Criticism

Ron DeSantis. The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival. New York: HarperCollins, 2023. Pp. 256. Price: $28.99 (Hardcover). ISBN: 978-0-06-330062-9.

Received on April 02, 2024; Accepted on July 01, 2024. Available online: Oct 10, 2024. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Reviewed by Abnish Singh Chauhan

Ron DeSantis’s The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival (2023) begins with “Introduction: The Florida Blueprint.” It is divided into fourteen chapters: “Foundations”, “For God, for Country, and for Yale”, “Honour, Courage, and Commitment”, “Underdog”, “Congressman”, “Hat in the Ring”, “Energy in the Executive”, “One Hundred Days”, “The Best Defense Is a Good Offense”, “Laboratories of Democracy”, “The COVID-19 Pandemic”, “The Magic Kingdom of Woke Corporatism”, “The Liberal Elite’s Praetorian Guard”, and “Power in a Post-Constitutional Order.” The book closes with a conclusion titled “Make America Florida.” This structure blends autobiography, political philosophy, critiques, and reflections on governance, culminating in a manifesto that projects Florida as a model for the nation.

At its core, the book is autobiographical, presenting the portrait of a man who represents a quintessential American success story. DeSantis emerges as a figure who rose from middle-class roots to national prominence. His academic achievements at Yale and Harvard, his athletic distinction as a baseball player, his naval services, and his rise to the governorship of Florida— all illustrate the narrative of hard work, perseverance, and opportunity. The trajectory embodies discipline, talent, and patriotic duty. This aspect of the narrative highlights DeSantis not just as a politician, but as a person who has pursued excellence across multiple domains.

The text, however, is more than a personal story. It functions as a political treatise that underscores DeSantis’s governing philosophy. On the opening page, he declares: “During times of turmoil, people, want leaders who are willing to speak the truth, stand for what is right, and demonstrate the courage necessary to lead. This is particularly true when it comes to serving as a governor.” This statement frames the central theme of the book. Accordingly, one of the recurring ideas in the book is that of states as laboratories of democracy. DeSantis argues that state-level governance provides opportunities to experiment with policy in ways that can inform national direction. This principle becomes a justification for the distinctive path Florida has taken under his leadership. He points to his state’s policies on education, environment, health, and governance as evidence that state-level initiatives can set examples for the nation.

Yet, much of the narrative is dedicated to denouncing woke corporations, mainstream media, and the federal bureaucracy. These critiques are extended to his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic chapter illustrates how the governor used opposition to lockdowns, mandates, and expert recommendations as a platform to assert his model of leadership.

DeSantis uses the book as a platform to highlight his achievements as governor of Florida. He recounts historic investments in education, expansion of school choice, environmental initiatives, and reforms in governance. His narrative is buttressed by the claim that Florida’s attractiveness as a destination for new residents is itself proof of successful policies. He frames the influx of people into Florida as a vote of confidence in the state’s governance model. In this sense, the book is not just reflective, but also promotional, advancing the argument that Florida provides a model for national governance.

Stylistically, the book reads as a blend of memoir and campaign text. The autobiographical sections provide a personal touch, portraying DeSantis as grounded, disciplined, and family-oriented. The book’s limitations also lie in its lack of nuanced engagement with complex issues. Many of the critiques of media, corporations, and experts are presented in broad strokes without detailed analysis or counterargument. This binary framing can oversimplify debates, reducing them to questions of loyalty, courage, and resistance. For readers seeking a more balanced or scholarly discussion of policy outcomes, the book offers little beyond self-congratulatory narratives and redundant accounts of adverse events.

Nevertheless, The Courage to Be Free is a revealing text for understanding Ron DeSantis as both a political figure and a thinker. It portrays a leader who sees himself as courageous, principled, and willing to stand against powerful forces. It reflects the governor’s self-image as a man of action, rooted in traditional values and unafraid to defy prevailing norms. For supporters, the book will reinforce admiration for his leadership. For critics, it will serve as evidence of a combative, partisan approach to governance.

About the Reviewer:

abnish-pic-2025 Abnish Singh Chauhan/ अवनीश सिंह चौहान (b. 1979), MA, M.Phil, Ph.D, is a bilingual poet, short story writer, critic, translator and editor of Poorvabhas and Creation and Criticism. He has authored/edited 14 books, including two collections of poetry and a book on poetry translation, and contributed over 100 articles, book reviews, and research papers to prominent journals, magazines, and newspapers in Hindi and English. He was invited as an author and speaker at ‘Ahmedabad International Literature Festival’ in 2016 and served as a judge and speaker at ‘Young Poets Competition’ during ‘Rendezvous 2017’ at IIT, Delhi. His Hindi and English lyrics have been included in more than two dozen edited anthologies, including Samkaleen Navgeet Sanchayan – Part 1, published by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi. He has received several prestigious awards. Currently, he is a Professor and Founding Head, Department of English, as well as Founding Principal of BIU College of Humanities and Journalism at Bareilly International University, Bareilly, U.P., India.