The Year 2020: A Day-By-Day Diary of a Debacle

The year 2020 was unlike any other year in history. Four new epic crises, which developed simultaneously and unexpectedly, terrorized and isolated us. One, the coronavirus pandemic began early in the year and, with a vaccine only a hopeful dream, it quickly spiraled out of control. Two, state and household budgets melted down as businesses across America failed, some never to reopen, which left us facing an unthinkable choice: save the economy, which would allow Covid-19 kill a million or more people and infect tens of millions more, or save people’s lives, which would allow the economy to sink into a depression? Three, the presidential campaign became a fierce struggle for the soul of America – would we remain a democracy or choose totalitarianism? – and ended in the worst riot in the nation’s Capital since the War of 1812. And four, a nationwide revolt developed against police brutality and systemic racism, which could have been a good crisis had it not been for everything else going on, which often helped allow it to sink into sometimes vicious violence. And then there were the ongoing crises, such as the age-defining climate-change calamity that was forced to take a backseat while we dealt with the four new crises.

During the entire year, beginning in late February and ending with Joe Biden’s inauguration, award-winning journalist Skip Johnson spent four to six hours a day, every day, combing through several news sources to collect the day’s events, then cull and condense them into a readable format. The result is a daily diary that will be a memento of everlasting value to those who survived it, a clear history of one of the most important years in human history for today’s and tomorrow’s children, and a reference volume for everyone that will only grow in value as the years pass.