‘True Gretch’: Takeaways from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s new book

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer gets candid in her new book “True Gretch: What I’ve Learned About Life, Leadership, and Everything in Between.”

In her words, the book, which was released on July 9, is an attempt to “put a little light out there in a damn dark time” amid the dangerous political climate of America.

She reveals personal moments one would never expect from a prominent politician, including the time she threw up on her high school principal after drinking too much and how she would pop out her dental “flipper,” a temporary partial denture, during caucus meetings when she served in the Michigan House of Representatives to reveal a gap where her front teeth used to be. But she also hits on some serious topics: Her popular “Fix the Damn Roads” slogan was born out of a campaign stop at which a Flint mother told her about her issues traveling to visit her ill son at the Detroit Children’s Hospital 70 miles away. The book also details her struggle juggling being a new mom and a new lawmaker while her mom was dying of cancer.

Here’s a look into more of what readers can learn about Whitmer from “True Gretch.”

Her tenure has been marked by unprecedented events

Since Whitmer was sworn in as Michigan governor for her first term in 2019, she’s guided the state through some of its most challenging events in modern history, including natural disasters and a significant period of racial tension following the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota. 

She talks in detail about the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the threats of violence that followed.

“It would have been easy to feel crushed by the weight of these events, or bitter that they all happened while I was in the governor’s office,” she writes. “But that would have been unfair to the people of Michigan, and a luxury none of us could afford.”

She acknowledged that her actions to slow the spread of the virus weren’t perfect, but she believes she and her team were doing what was best to save Michiganders’ lives. Following numerous stay-at-home orders, what she didn’t expect was for opposition to such measures to turn violent. 

In April 2020, she watched from her office in downtown Lansing as people gathered to protest her orders. One person held a sign calling her a Nazi, while another held a brown-haired doll with a noose around its neck. 

She felt even more threatened when she learned of an armed militia plotting to kidnap her and her family, with some members even discussing plans to kill her. When the news broke and made headlines across the country, Whitmer said, it shook her sense of security and gave her a heightened awareness as a governor, mother and wife that she didn’t have before. Whitmer mentions that she looks forward to the chance to sit down with one of the men who pleaded guilty to charges connected to their involvement in the plot in hopes of being able to reach some understanding.

Battling Trump was not part of her plans

Whitmer was vocal about Donald Trump’s failure to create a strategy during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, but she said her intention was never to get into a sparring match with the former president. Hospitals were overflowing, and governors from around the country were scrambling to acquire enough masks, gloves and ventilators. Michigan was third in the country in having the most COVID-19-related deaths by the end of March 2020, and Detroit had been hit particularly hard.

“I had been governor for only a little over a year, and getting into a fight with the president wasn’t something I was keen to do,” she recalls. “I did it because I was scared. Michiganders were dying, and I had to do whatever it took to get the federal government’s attention and help.”

Trump reacted by refusing to say Whitmer’s name. He began calling Whitmer “That Woman from Michigan” during a White House press conference and continued to use similar phrases when referring to her. She took the nickname in stride — the moment raised her national profile, and Whitmer jokes in one chapter how it was great for small businesses selling “That Woman from Michigan” merchandise on Etsy.