The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America is a 2013 work of contemporary political science and history by the American journalist George Packer. It won the National Book Award in 2013 and was a finalist for the 2013 National Book Critics Circle Award. The book explores the trajectory of the United States from 1978 to 2012 and argues that those years saw a diminishing of the institutions, promises, and social connections that had united Americans in previous generations.

This guide refers to the paperback edition from 2013.

Summary

The book follows the fortunes of three primary subjects (Dean Price, Jeff Connaughton, and Tammy Thomas) and locations (Silicon Valley, Tampa, and Wall Street). Throughout the book, Packer also provides biographical sketches of notable Americans whose fortunes are emblematic of the state of the country including Newt Gingrich, Oprah Winfrey, Jay-Z, Andrew Breitbart, and Elizabeth Warren. He also follows the fortunes of tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel, the founder of PayPal. Throughout the text, Packer uses a close-third person narrative voice to convey his subjects thoughts and perspectives.

In Part 1, Packer covers 1978 to 2003 and introduces his subjects. Dean Price grows up in rural North Carolina. He sees the three main industries of the area (tobacco, furniture, and manufacturing) dry up and starts his own businesses, opening truck stops, convenience stores, and fast food restaurants up and down the highway. Just as these businesses are taking off, Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans and shuts down diesel delivery. Dean decides to pursue a new business: biofuels.

Jeff Connaughton goes in and out of corporate jobs before ending up working for Biden’s unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1988 and then eventually the Clinton White House. There, he learns how power functions in Washington before forming a lobbying firm where he learns about how money has changed Washington. He gets rich.

Tammy Thomas is a Black woman who grows up in Youngstown, Ohio just as the steel mills are closing down. She watches as the city becomes blighted with crime, poverty, and drugs. Because she becomes a single mother and has no other opportunities, she ends up working on the assembly line at Packard Electric, a subsidiary of General Motors. She works there for years before Packard restructures and then buys her contract out, leaving her unemployed.

Part 2 covers the period between 2003 and 2008. As Dean builds his biodiesel company Red Birch Energy, he connects with a Democratic congressman named Tom Perriello who shares Dean’s vision of a new green economy. When gas prices drop, Red Birch struggles, and Dean is eventually bought out by his partners after he is forced to declare bankruptcy for his other businesses. At the same time, Connaughton thrives even after watching Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns fail as the mortgage crisis begins. He loses money, but he rejoins government work after Joe Biden is elected vice president in 2008. Tammy takes a job as a community organizer with the Mahoning Valley Organizing Committee (MVOC) and learns to tell her story and figure out ways to revitalize a shrinking Youngstown. She becomes very excited about the election of Barack Obama.

In Tampa, Packer describes the regular citizens caught up in the foreclosure crisis. First, he describes the growth machine that creates the sprawling, unconnected subdivisions that lead to more mortgages being produced. Then he traces the people caught up in it, including Mike Van Sickler, a journalist who exposes the corruption at the ground level. Like others in the book, he is upset when the Obama administration refuses to go after bank executives following the economic collapse precipitated by the subprime mortgage crisis. Other Tampa residents join the fight to stop foreclosures and expose the fraud committed by the banks.

Part 3 covers the period of 2009 to 2012. Just as the Tea Party wave unseats Tom Perriello, Dean runs into more financial trouble but ends up creating a new biodiesel project that could benefit local schools. Connaughton works in the senate with Ted Kaufman to try, unsuccessfully, to make tougher regulations and punishments for the banks. Tammy empowers and trains more leaders to find their voice and organizes actions that help reelect Barack Obama in 2012.