Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story

New York Times Bestseller

An irreverent look behind the scenes of American politics from one of the most sought-after operatives in the Democratic Party

Lis Smith isn’t your average political strategist and Any Given Tuesday isn’t your typical political memoir. At once a revealing look at human nature at the highest levels of power and an intimate portrayal of a sometimes rocky personal journey, it breaks all the rules. Smith doesn’t pretend to be perfect—she owns the controversial choices that landed her in the tabloids, as well as the unorthodox ones that have paid off and defined her successful career.

 Any Given Tuesday follows Smith from her earliest experiences as a college-aged intern to her days as a trusted adviser and confidante to some of the most high-profile politicians in the country—including her star turn as senior adviser on Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign. Animated by Smith’s love for the hand-to-hand combat of politics and sustained by her deeply-held belief that it’s still possible to effect positive change, it’s an odyssey full of highs and lows and larger-than-life characters. Throughout, Smith shows what it’s really like behind the curtain: what happens when the lights go down and the cameras turn off, how it feels to be in the eye of the political media storm, and how the people responsible for heady, life and death decisions are as flawed as the rest of us.

While the journey hasn’t always been smooth, Lis Smith has seen and learned a lot—and she shares it all in this eye-opening, entertaining memoir.

What does it take to survive—and win—at the highest levels of American politics?

• Campaign War Rooms: A front-row seat to the strategy, chaos, and crisis communications inside historic campaigns for Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Cuomo, and more.
• Women in Politics: An unflinching look at the unique challenges and double standards faced by women operatives in a field dominated by men.
• The Tabloid Trenches: Smith confronts the controversial choices and high-profile relationships that landed her on the front page, sharing hard-won lessons on surviving the media storm.
• Political Media Spin: Go behind the curtain and see how the sausage gets made, from shaping a narrative and killing a bad story to navigating the modern 24/7 news cycle.

"Stylish and acerbic." - CNN.com

"Smith’s Any Given Tuesday may just rewrite the template for what a political memoir can be." - Time

"Would-be political staffers will find valuable pointers." - Kirkus Reviews

"Lis Smith has given us a uniquely honest and personal glimpse into the realities of American politics, reminding us once again why she stands among that arena’s best and brightest. Any Given Tuesday is more than a memoir. It’s a reminder of who we are and who we can be.” - Bakari Sellers, member of the South Carolina House of Representatives and CNN political commentator

"A fearless strategist with a heart for the underdog candidate, Lis Smith has made her mark at every level of Democratic politics, from local to presidential. She holds nothing back in this page-turner. Her uproarious memoir is an insider’s how-to of twenty-first-century campaigning." - Karen Tumulty, deputy editorial page editor and columnist for the Washington Post

"Lis Smith is a brilliant, fearless, bare-knuckle political warrior and, it turns out, a hell of a storyteller, too!” - David Axelrod, director of the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics and former chief strategist and senior adviser to President Barack Obama

"Breezy and informative. . . . Lis Smith delivers 300 pages of smack, snark and vulnerability." - The Guardian