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4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
informative
tense
fast-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
dark
funny
hopeful
informative
tense
fast-paced
emotional
informative
medium-paced
The National Daily Situation Room would be a permanent organization…It would serve as a management tool by providing intelligence, communications, briefing, display and monitor facilities.”
The author is more than a television host of a popular morning show or his own show, “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” He is a political commentator and former Democratic advisor. He was also the Communications Director for the 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton before becoming his White House Communications Director. His resume is extensive, and so when this book came out, I thought it would be worth reading. I am glad I did. I now offer you, my review.
He tells us that the “Sit Room” isn’t much to look at, it actually is located in the White House basement. And, to him, it really is quite the modest cramped conference room. It wasn’t until August 2023 that it got a pretty facelift renovation. But (facelift or not) it is what takes place in this room that makes the difference.
The Situation Room began with President John F. Kennedy, and it had some captivating historical moments through the variety of presidents since.
A key statement that caught my eye was shared early on when the author wrote…
“In the six decades since the creation of the Situation Room, it has been the crisis center during America’s catastrophes. The men and women of the Sit Room have dealt with nuclear scares, the assassination of a president and attempts on two others. They stayed at their posts on 9/11, when the White House itself was the target of terrorists. And they tracked and analyzed American wars that cost hundreds of thousands of lives and billions upon billions of dollars. But never before had they dealt with an insurrection against our own government, inspired by the president of the United States.”
How does one feel, reading this paragraph, let alone this last sentence?
“Your allegiance to your country supersedes your allegiance to your role.”
Digest that statement above for a moment. It was uttered on January 6, 2021 by Mike Steigler, an intelligence analyst that worked at the White House.
The author clearly felt concerned as well when he stated, “those dueling loyalties had never been tested like this.”
In the chapter, “Postcards from the Edge” there is more detail on that president’s attitude towards the Situation Room and the problems overall with what occurred during his time in office.
And thus, throughout this book the author shares a lot of dynamic and engrossing Situation Room stories. And these same stories, were not typically or outwardly known to the public. Because these are the stories of what really happened “behind the scenes” regarding the issues we thought we laymen always knew – like when both Presidents Kennedy and Reagan were shot. But as laymen, we clearly did not.
Readers will get an insider view into each president’s attitude toward the Situation Room experience. And, how they viewed their role.
But it wasn’t even about just the various incidents that occurred under their watch. As an example, what will readers learn about President Nixon’s lack of interest in participating in those important Situation Room discussions? And, what circumvented President Carter’s negotiations in getting the hostages out of Iran? Or what really happened in those hours during the 9/11 attacks? Can we even imagine what it took to finally finding Osama bin Laden under President Obama’s leadership?
The author covers the Situation Room through President Biden. The author went through over 100 interviews and intensive research for this book. He also included black and white and color photographs throughout the chapters.
This is a fascinating, easy-to-read, inspiring, page-turning book that almost reads like fiction. For those interested in real history, this will be a worthwhile read.
The author is more than a television host of a popular morning show or his own show, “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” He is a political commentator and former Democratic advisor. He was also the Communications Director for the 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton before becoming his White House Communications Director. His resume is extensive, and so when this book came out, I thought it would be worth reading. I am glad I did. I now offer you, my review.
He tells us that the “Sit Room” isn’t much to look at, it actually is located in the White House basement. And, to him, it really is quite the modest cramped conference room. It wasn’t until August 2023 that it got a pretty facelift renovation. But (facelift or not) it is what takes place in this room that makes the difference.
The Situation Room began with President John F. Kennedy, and it had some captivating historical moments through the variety of presidents since.
A key statement that caught my eye was shared early on when the author wrote…
“In the six decades since the creation of the Situation Room, it has been the crisis center during America’s catastrophes. The men and women of the Sit Room have dealt with nuclear scares, the assassination of a president and attempts on two others. They stayed at their posts on 9/11, when the White House itself was the target of terrorists. And they tracked and analyzed American wars that cost hundreds of thousands of lives and billions upon billions of dollars. But never before had they dealt with an insurrection against our own government, inspired by the president of the United States.”
How does one feel, reading this paragraph, let alone this last sentence?
“Your allegiance to your country supersedes your allegiance to your role.”
Digest that statement above for a moment. It was uttered on January 6, 2021 by Mike Steigler, an intelligence analyst that worked at the White House.
The author clearly felt concerned as well when he stated, “those dueling loyalties had never been tested like this.”
In the chapter, “Postcards from the Edge” there is more detail on that president’s attitude towards the Situation Room and the problems overall with what occurred during his time in office.
And thus, throughout this book the author shares a lot of dynamic and engrossing Situation Room stories. And these same stories, were not typically or outwardly known to the public. Because these are the stories of what really happened “behind the scenes” regarding the issues we thought we laymen always knew – like when both Presidents Kennedy and Reagan were shot. But as laymen, we clearly did not.
Readers will get an insider view into each president’s attitude toward the Situation Room experience. And, how they viewed their role.
But it wasn’t even about just the various incidents that occurred under their watch. As an example, what will readers learn about President Nixon’s lack of interest in participating in those important Situation Room discussions? And, what circumvented President Carter’s negotiations in getting the hostages out of Iran? Or what really happened in those hours during the 9/11 attacks? Can we even imagine what it took to finally finding Osama bin Laden under President Obama’s leadership?
The author covers the Situation Room through President Biden. The author went through over 100 interviews and intensive research for this book. He also included black and white and color photographs throughout the chapters.
This is a fascinating, easy-to-read, inspiring, page-turning book that almost reads like fiction. For those interested in real history, this will be a worthwhile read.
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
emotional
informative
fast-paced
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Informational, factual. Excellent and interesting read.
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced