It Can Happen Here: A Prehistory of the 2016 Presidential Election was begun in 2011 and completed early the following year. It is the story of a fanatical village mayor, Samuel Parsons, who becomes governor, Vice Presidential candidate, and ultimately President of the United States. Juxtaposed with his story is the story of a small town newspaper editor, Hal Simpson, balancing his family, job, and reputation as he tries to report the news in a fair and unbiased fashion. As the country is pushed into war with Mexico to stem the flow of narcotics and violence into the United States, Parsons comes to resemble a dictator more than a President, and Simpson must decide whether reporting the truth is worth the risk of imprisonment. A story rooted as much in the presidential election of 2012 as that of 2016, It Can Happen Here is a story of ambition and conscience, asking the reader the decide how far freedom can be compromised in order to save it.