How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

How to Test Negative for Stupid and Why Washington Never Will (2025) is a political memoir by United States Senator John Kennedy. A Republican from Louisiana with a background in state government, Kennedy has degrees from Vanderbilt University, the University of Virginia School of Law, and Oxford University. The Center for Effective Lawmaking, a non-partisan research institute headquartered at the University of Virginia, has recognized him as one of the most effective Republican senators. In the book, Kennedy chronicles his life from his small-town Louisiana roots through his career in state politics and his tenure in the US Senate during the Trump and Biden administrations. The author uses personal anecdotes to frame a broader critique of the Washington DC political establishment and champion a governing philosophy grounded in plain-spoken communication. The memoir examines themes of Candor As Political Strategy, The Insularity of Political and Media Elites, and The Importance of Prosecutorial Independence.

This guide is based on the 2025 Broadside Books first edition.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide contain discussions of racism, graphic violence, and cursing.

Plot Summary

Senator John Kennedy begins by describing his modest daily life as a US Senator in Washington DC. He lives in a small, rented apartment he describes as having an “early Salvation Army” (9) aesthetic and spends his free time reading policy papers. Kennedy characterizes the Senate chamber as a mostly empty theater where speeches are delivered for C-SPAN clips rather than for genuine debate. He shares anecdotes of both humorous and heated, profanity-laced exchanges among his colleagues. He establishes his independent voting record, noting instances where he was the sole Republican to vote with Democrats.

Kennedy then recounts his upbringing in the small town of Zachary, Louisiana. His father was a self-employed businessman, and his mother was a schoolteacher. A formative high school experience confronting a bully taught him that “weakness invites the wolves” (37). He then attended Vanderbilt University, followed by the University of Virginia School of Law. After completing his JD, he travelled to England to earn an advanced Bachelor of Civil Law degree from Oxford University. He returned to Louisiana to practice law, where he met his wife, Becky, with whom he has a son, Preston.

In 1987, Kennedy’s political career begins when newly elected Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer asks him to serve as Special Counsel. He describes the chaotic administration, which inherited a massive budget deficit from former Governor Edwin Edwards. Kennedy’s tenure is marked by a recurring conflict with State Senator Mike Foster over Kennedy’s efforts, at Roemer’s direction, to remove the state’s Commissioner of Higher Education. He also recounts his few direct encounters with corruption, including a dentist who tried to trade rent for help getting his dental license back.

After helping pass major reforms, Kennedy’s and Roemer’s political fortunes decline after Roemer vetoes a popular anti-abortion bill in 1991. Kennedy launches his first campaign for State Attorney General but loses after refusing a deal from former Governor Edwards, who was in the lead to retake the governorship and offered to place Kennedy on an influential “sample ballot” (73)—not an official sample ballot but a list of candidates endorsed by Edwards—for $30,000 in cash. In 1992, Edwards becomes governor once again, ousting Roemer. In 1995, Kennedy manages Roemer’s unsuccessful comeback campaign for governor. The race is won by Mike Foster, Kennedy’s former adversary, who then surprises Kennedy by appointing him Secretary of the Department of Revenue.

As Secretary of Revenue, Kennedy establishes his authority by firing insubordinate civil servants and launches popular initiatives, most notably the Unclaimed Property program, which returns hundreds of millions of dollars to Louisiana citizens. He successfully prosecutes tax evasion cases against politically powerful individuals. In 1999, he is elected State Treasurer. Feeling disconnected from public education, he begins volunteering as a substitute teacher, an experience that shapes his policy views. During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, he works at the state command center and later goes to New Orleans, where he clashes with FEMA rules to ensure evacuees are not separated from their pets. After unsuccessful US Senate campaigns in 2004 and 2008, he switches from the Democratic to the Republican party.

In 2016, Kennedy runs for the US Senate. During a primary debate, he confronts fellow candidate and former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke by repeatedly referring to him by his federal prisoner number. Kennedy wins the primary and advances to a runoff. After Donald Trump wins the presidency, Trump holds a rally for Kennedy in Louisiana, and Kennedy wins the runoff election with 61% of the vote.

Arriving in the Senate in 2017, Kennedy finds Washington DC consumed by the Trump-Russia collusion narrative, which he views as a product of intense media bias. He describes his working relationship with President Trump, detailing their collaboration on legislation and recounting how he convinced Trump to hold a public auction for the C-band—a broadband spectrum useful for 5G telecommunications—raising over $80 billion for the US Treasury. He also explains his opposition to Trump’s First Step Act, and how he agreed to a personal request from the president to cancel a critical television appearance.

During the Joe Biden administration, Kennedy attends a bill signing at the White House in July 2021 and engages the president in a lengthy conversation, during which he observes what he perceives as significant signs of cognitive and physical decline. He becomes a prominent critic of the administration, using his position on Senate committees to challenge Biden’s policies and nominees. His pointed questioning leads to the withdrawal of several controversial nominees, including Saule Omarova for Comptroller of the Currency and judicial nominee Charnell Bjelkengren. He also challenges Dr. Anthony Fauci on the origins of COVID-19. Kennedy notes that he holds nominees from both parties to the same standard, recounting how his questioning of an unqualified Trump judicial nominee, Matthew Petersen, led to the nomination being pulled.

In January 2025, after Trump wins reelection, Kennedy uses his Judiciary Committee position to address the politicization of the Department of Justice. He argues that the Biden administration’s prosecution of Trump—a mischaracterization, as it was Merrick Garland’s independent Justice Department and not Biden that chose to undertake this prosecution—set a dangerous precedent. During confirmation hearings for Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi and FBI Director nominee Kash Patel, he warns against the temptation for political retribution and secures their commitment to reform the agencies without engaging in a partisan witch hunt.

Kennedy concludes by offering his positions on several key issues. He supports legal immigration but demands strict border enforcement; criticizes the mainstream media for liberal bias; blames rising crime on soft-on-crime policies and advocates for a return to “stop-and-frisk” and other aggressive law-enforcement tactics; describes China’s President Xi Jinping as a “hard man” (196) who believes America is in decline; argues against allowing transgender women in women’s sports; and asserts that America is not a racist country, opposing what he calls “woke” identity politics. In a final epilogue, he reaffirms his commitment to candor as a service to the American people.