The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival

Written by Ron DeSantis

Narrated by Ron DeSantis and John Pruden

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER / #1 WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER / #1 PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY BESTSELLER / #1 AMAZON BESTSELLER

No American leader has accomplished more for his state than Governor Ron DeSantis. Now he reveals how he did it.

He played baseball for Yale, graduated with honors from Harvard Law School, and served in Iraq and in the halls of Congress. But in all these places, Ron DeSantis learned the same lesson: He didn’t want to be part of the leftist elite.

His heart was always for the people of Florida, one of the most diverse and culturally rich states in the union. Since becoming governor of the Sunshine State, he has fought—and won—battle after battle, defeating not just opposition from the political left, but a barrage of hostile media coverage proclaiming the end of the world.

When he implemented COVID-19 policies based on evidence and focused on freedoms, the press launched a smear campaign against him, yet Florida’s economy thrived, its education system outperformed the nation, and Florida’s COVID mortality rate for seniors was lower than that in thirty-eight states. When he enacted policies to keep leftist political concepts like critical race theory and woke gender ideology out of Florida’s classrooms, the media demagogued his actions, but parents across Florida rallied to his cause. Dishonest attacks from the media don’t deter him. In fact, DeSantis keeps racking up wins for Floridians. In 2022, the governor delivered a historic, record-setting victory, winning by nearly 20 points and more than 1.5 million votes.

A firsthand account from the blue-collar boy who grew up to take on Disney and Dr. Fauci, The Courage to Be Free delivers something rare from an elected leader: stories of victory. This book is a winning blueprint for patriots across the country. And it is a rallying cry for every American who wishes to preserve our liberties.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Feb 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9780063276024

Ron DeSantis

Ron DeSantis is Florida’s forty-sixth governor and one of the few American statesmen to receive bipartisan praise for his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. An honors graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, he served as an officer in the U.S. Navy and an adviser to a SEAL commander in Iraq, earning the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and the Bronze Star. In 2012 he was elected to Congress, where he served on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He is married to Emmy Award–winning anchor Casey DeSantis, and they live in Tallahassee with their three children, Madison, Mason, and Mamie.

Reviews for The Courage to Be Free

[Garrett Herfkens · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Interesting lacking in but one way

Aside from being a terrible human and misaligned goals for our nation, Ron put words to paper which is worth something. Unfortunately the narrative provides no knowledge and I felt like I wasted hours because I'm now dumber for having read this.

[khugy · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Total garbage?! Just stop this nonsense ? , he raised in Florida from get go and so on.

[Jon Pizza · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This books trash just like the author, god help us

[Stephanie Smith · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Ugh. Just a terrifying possibility for our future from a megalomaniac.

[Matthew Glass · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Dangerous man. Poorly written . Campaign Gimmick. Makes Mein Kamp appear to be well written.

[Candice · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Authoritarianism is not a good look. This country is built on the idea of diversity of opinion and of embracing differences. If being "woke" is a person that feels that others have the right to live as they choose in a supposedly free country, I don't want to read drivel that tries to convince me otherwise.

[Timbo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fantastic - It is great to get the inside scoop of how DeSantis won his US House Seat and then moved on to governor. His critique of the legacy media is spot on - I see the same thing all the time, where the NYT will just leave out some critical info. Great, great listen!!

[Michelle Brown · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book about doing the right thing and leadership. Refreshing.

[The Communard · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

If your worldview is that of philisophical idealism (i.e. you don’t concern yourself with the objectively existing material world, instead placing your attention on abstract ideas and their “ability” to influence the world around us), then you will probably like this book. Desantis fumbles over and over and can never provide a coherent definition of ‘wokeism’ because it is not an actually existing phenomenon. If you think what’s happening in Hollywood bears any resemblance to our objectively existing reality, then you seriously need to see a psychiatrist. If you are sick of the theatre that’s considered to be politics in the United States, look into authors such as Vijay Prashad and Michael Parenti.

[Cindy McBrearty · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I do like his cometary on the need to stand up against the Woke total wave and the need to desperately get back to the system our forefathers dreamed of in the development of our constitution.
I don’t like his characterization of the Covid epidemic. He must have been omniscient in early 2020 as to what to do as no one else did. As a physician in the midst of treating those with Covid we had no testing , minimal availability of PPE including masks and were waiting for months to sort out what would work as therapy- remember all the controversy over Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquin!
Finally the book could have been1/2 as long if “I” was minimized.

[liz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As always, our governor doing a great job communicating with his people!

[Mark Finkin · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

True to form and on target Ron DeSantis delivers a big win for ALL AMERICANS
with this in depth and candid look at the man his family and the victories he has garnered for American freedom both in Florida and on the national platform.
This is what courage and real leadership looks like. Make America Florida!
Thank goodness we have a blueprint to follow.
A must read for every patriot and future patriots.

[buckmitchell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I said for years thank God we live in Florida and thank God Ron DeSantis is our Governor. It’s a terrific story and he’ll be a terrific President one day.

[CM · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm a big Ron fan and liked his message in the book, I just felt item was repetitive saying the same things over and over again without any clear order in the chapters.

[Josh Scott · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book from a great governor.
Showing us how effective conservative leader ship should be done.

[Ru Ming Wei Yang · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It was a great read. Just what I was looking for.