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2.7 AVERAGE
2.7 AVERAGE
I'm actually scared of reviewing this and getting attacked by the right. ✌
The Room Where It Happened
By John Bolton
Book 6 in my collection of Trump Fiction
So this is actually the first Trump book I’ve read from a former member of the Trump Administration from the plethora of what I’ve decided to call Trump Fiction.
Anyone who has paid attention to national politics and foreign relations knows who John Bolton is. He has been a part of the foreign policy apparatus for the past four Republican administrations. Besides holding various posts in the State Department his highest position before accepting the role of National Security Advisor for the Trump Administration was his time as Ambassador to the United Nations under the George W. Bush Administration.
To say that John Bolton is a foreign policy hawk is an understatement, if you were to play Civilization with him he would always go for a domination victory by nuking all of your cities before you had the chance to build a granary.
You will discover quickly while reading The Room Where it Happens that Ambassador Bolton is always the smartest in the room because he will tell you he was. Just like James Comey in ‘A Higher Loyalty’ when you would be informed constantly about his righteousness, Bolton’s constant reminder that I’m the smartest in the room gets on the readers' nerves quickly.
Ambassador Bolton had little use for Niki Haley who was in his old job at the United Nations and felt that she was allowed to go rouge from both Tillerson and Pompeo her bosses at the State Department but after she acted would go to Trump and he would say she had done the right thing.
Bolton expresses several times that James Mattis was an obstructionist to getting the President's agenda pushed through and disagreed with him often in issues of NATO and Iran.
Bolton talks extensively about the lack of a disciplined approach to managing the executive department and blames this on Trump's inability to understand the role of the President and how the Executive Branch of government functions. Bolton takes both John Kelly and Mick Mulvaney to task for never establishing boundaries and order to the chaos that is the Trump experience.
Ambassador Bolton points out several times that President Trump lacks the critical thinking skills and analytical abilities that are needed to successfully be President of the United States. The Ambassador points out that the President does not have an understanding of American History especially when it comes to foreign affairs. He tells a story of having himself and Secretary Pompeo having to repeatedly explain that the Japanese and Korean people have a history of not trusting each other because of the events of the Second World War. This is why Prime Ministers Moon and Abe would disagree about strategies regarding North Korea and how to handle Kim Jong Un.
When it comes to Kim Jong Un Ambassador Bolton explicitly condemns the strategy and approach Trump has taken. He disavows it and states that Trump is a fool not to realize that he is being played by the Dear Leader.
Overall the book is an interesting read by someone who is attempting to save himself from future historians.
Overall I give it three stars because its self severing in the long run and not objective in the role he played in enabling an Administration that has endangered the Republic.
By John Bolton
Book 6 in my collection of Trump Fiction
So this is actually the first Trump book I’ve read from a former member of the Trump Administration from the plethora of what I’ve decided to call Trump Fiction.
Anyone who has paid attention to national politics and foreign relations knows who John Bolton is. He has been a part of the foreign policy apparatus for the past four Republican administrations. Besides holding various posts in the State Department his highest position before accepting the role of National Security Advisor for the Trump Administration was his time as Ambassador to the United Nations under the George W. Bush Administration.
To say that John Bolton is a foreign policy hawk is an understatement, if you were to play Civilization with him he would always go for a domination victory by nuking all of your cities before you had the chance to build a granary.
You will discover quickly while reading The Room Where it Happens that Ambassador Bolton is always the smartest in the room because he will tell you he was. Just like James Comey in ‘A Higher Loyalty’ when you would be informed constantly about his righteousness, Bolton’s constant reminder that I’m the smartest in the room gets on the readers' nerves quickly.
Ambassador Bolton had little use for Niki Haley who was in his old job at the United Nations and felt that she was allowed to go rouge from both Tillerson and Pompeo her bosses at the State Department but after she acted would go to Trump and he would say she had done the right thing.
Bolton expresses several times that James Mattis was an obstructionist to getting the President's agenda pushed through and disagreed with him often in issues of NATO and Iran.
Bolton talks extensively about the lack of a disciplined approach to managing the executive department and blames this on Trump's inability to understand the role of the President and how the Executive Branch of government functions. Bolton takes both John Kelly and Mick Mulvaney to task for never establishing boundaries and order to the chaos that is the Trump experience.
Ambassador Bolton points out several times that President Trump lacks the critical thinking skills and analytical abilities that are needed to successfully be President of the United States. The Ambassador points out that the President does not have an understanding of American History especially when it comes to foreign affairs. He tells a story of having himself and Secretary Pompeo having to repeatedly explain that the Japanese and Korean people have a history of not trusting each other because of the events of the Second World War. This is why Prime Ministers Moon and Abe would disagree about strategies regarding North Korea and how to handle Kim Jong Un.
When it comes to Kim Jong Un Ambassador Bolton explicitly condemns the strategy and approach Trump has taken. He disavows it and states that Trump is a fool not to realize that he is being played by the Dear Leader.
Overall the book is an interesting read by someone who is attempting to save himself from future historians.
Overall I give it three stars because its self severing in the long run and not objective in the role he played in enabling an Administration that has endangered the Republic.
Could not do it. Bolton is clearly relying on the PR surrounding this book to get you to keep reading, though it is so tedious and filled with superfluous detail I just cannot be bothered.
VERY Detailed!
It's one thing to know about the buffoonery and idiocy that was the Presidency of 45. It's another to read it in the detail Bolton provides. Does he come off as arrogant, sure. Is he intent on throwing digs at Obama whenever he can, probably. But it doesn't change the facts that 45's reign was one giant cluster from day one.
It's one thing to know about the buffoonery and idiocy that was the Presidency of 45. It's another to read it in the detail Bolton provides. Does he come off as arrogant, sure. Is he intent on throwing digs at Obama whenever he can, probably. But it doesn't change the facts that 45's reign was one giant cluster from day one.
challenging
informative
slow-paced
Takes a lot of patience to get through, but former Ambassador Bolton demonstrates his knowledge and understanding of national security through this memoir of his time in the Trump administration.
Interesting, but read like a day planner. I didn't read a couple of the chapters that I wasn't as interested in, but it certainly expressed the fickleness and toxicity of the White House.
The chess match, tit-for-tat, “you give me this and I’ll give you that”, quagmire of shenanigans that is world politics is quite the tiresome subject for me to wade through personally, so I don’t often indulge in books of this nature, but the overall hype behind this one was too much to ignore, or resist.
I guess I could say the biggest lesson I gained from this was how things work, “behind the scenes”, in American -and world- politics at large. And it is a quagmire indeed!
Politics are largely confusing, overly convoluted and relies too much on putting on a show; for the media, public, fellow comrades, voter demographics, news outlets etc, and I’m sure mostly by design (starkly driven home by the books account of the Kim Jong Un/Donald Trump “bromance”). And none the better for such antics than reality TV star Donald Trump! I’m not sure if I gained a higher respect for, or more disdain for politicians in general from reading this. I’m gonna go with the latter. Definitely the latter.
But to refrain from beating around the bush here any longer, let’s get to meat and potatoes and the biggest reason for all the controversy surrounding this books release: Donald J Trump.
Sure, the book paints him as an indecisive, erratic and petulant leader whose decisions can change “by the drop of a leaf” (as Bolton describes and shows), and also shows how he regularly goes around a room full of politicians, “yes men” and White House staff members, asking for their opinions on “such and such”, or whatever world crisis/problem is currently unraveling and then proceeds to form an opinion or direction and fully takes credit for it coming from his own mind, when it’s anything but the case. Trump’s main focus is how “tough” he looks on the world stage and how much he is appeasing his base of voters, over anything else. Oftentimes, it’s all smoke and mirrors, despite what the world or his base is grasping off of the charade that he is presenting. Or, how despite Trump, trying to come off as the strong one between either he and Kim Jong Un, or he and Vladimir Putin in their dealings, he is/was actually quite the chump in his dealings with said leaders. Playing to Trump’s vanities, will get you far, especially on the world stage. Take note, world leaders.
As the book shows, Trump treats world issues like he’s dealing with hotel or real estate negotiations, constantly failing to realize how much more critical and complex these issues, and leaders are and in turn, is played as a fiddle or the laughing stock time and time again. From Russia, to North Korea and on through Iran, it’s all very evident. And through all of this, Trump displays an unnatural admiration for both Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin and frightfully seems to wish he could emulate both leaders. Case in point, while watching a CNN leaked story about Afghanistan that Trump didn’t want out yet, he vehemently said “These people should be executed! They’re scumbags!”, to a room full of his subordinates!
But is any of this surprising to those truly watching? Do you really need this book to tell you all of this? Highly doubtful and that was certainly my take as well. But surprisingly, to me at least, was Bolton’s approach to all of this; it was concise, mature and didn’t devolve into childish mud slinging like some of the other “anti-Trump” books tended to lean towards that I have read, or in some cases, fully made its bread and butter off of such sentiments. Whether I agree with his politics or not, Bolton comes off as a man truly intent on having what he feels is America’s best interest at hand, and having served under two other presidents prior to Trump, at showing the American public from a first hand and reliable account, just how incompetent and continually unhinged Trump truly is. And again, from a mature and measured perspective. Despite Bolton’s understandable frustrations becoming more manifest as the book rolls on, it was not as “anti-Trump” as I initially -and fully expected it- to be, despite it very much exposing every Donald Trump weakness. The true warning and revealing aspect of this book is asking what Trump as a president will be like if he is re-elected and no longer has to base his every erratic impulse around the fear of not getting four more years. Many of his nearly disastrous first term decisions that he held back on, were solely based around that prospect. THAT, my friends, is one hell of a scary thought!
The biggest downside to this book was Bolton himself. Arrogant most of the time, pompous to a fault at others, his consistent agenda here seemed to be to let the reader know of his every GREAT dealing he has made on the world stage and every comment that he received from his colleagues to drive home that point, for that matter! “They should rename this the Bolton Wing of the White House” someone once rattled off to Bolton after a “genius” idea of his went through. Jesus, dude...a little humility could have went a long way here in driving home his other, more important points in the book, but Bolton clearly never considered that route.
Did I enjoy this book? Absolutely! I devoured it much more quickly than I even expected to and I admit, having limited knowledge at such dense and in-depth governmental workings, I was sometimes confused about what I was reading because the amount of information expelled here can be quite daunting to the untrained mind, but I certainly got the gist of it all and greatly appreciated the insider look that it gives the reader.
If you’re interested in seeing -oftentimes in real time (I’m sure Bolton was writing this book as scenarios played out) how politics work - or in learning more in depth at the failings of Donald Trump in general, then definitely give this book a read for yourself. I fully realize that probably everything I read is not the whole truth, because Bolton is after all a politician, but a grain of salt my friends....a grain of salt, and in the end, I for one even then still don’t regret reading or buying this. Not at all.
I guess I could say the biggest lesson I gained from this was how things work, “behind the scenes”, in American -and world- politics at large. And it is a quagmire indeed!
Politics are largely confusing, overly convoluted and relies too much on putting on a show; for the media, public, fellow comrades, voter demographics, news outlets etc, and I’m sure mostly by design (starkly driven home by the books account of the Kim Jong Un/Donald Trump “bromance”). And none the better for such antics than reality TV star Donald Trump! I’m not sure if I gained a higher respect for, or more disdain for politicians in general from reading this. I’m gonna go with the latter. Definitely the latter.
But to refrain from beating around the bush here any longer, let’s get to meat and potatoes and the biggest reason for all the controversy surrounding this books release: Donald J Trump.
Sure, the book paints him as an indecisive, erratic and petulant leader whose decisions can change “by the drop of a leaf” (as Bolton describes and shows), and also shows how he regularly goes around a room full of politicians, “yes men” and White House staff members, asking for their opinions on “such and such”, or whatever world crisis/problem is currently unraveling and then proceeds to form an opinion or direction and fully takes credit for it coming from his own mind, when it’s anything but the case. Trump’s main focus is how “tough” he looks on the world stage and how much he is appeasing his base of voters, over anything else. Oftentimes, it’s all smoke and mirrors, despite what the world or his base is grasping off of the charade that he is presenting. Or, how despite Trump, trying to come off as the strong one between either he and Kim Jong Un, or he and Vladimir Putin in their dealings, he is/was actually quite the chump in his dealings with said leaders. Playing to Trump’s vanities, will get you far, especially on the world stage. Take note, world leaders.
As the book shows, Trump treats world issues like he’s dealing with hotel or real estate negotiations, constantly failing to realize how much more critical and complex these issues, and leaders are and in turn, is played as a fiddle or the laughing stock time and time again. From Russia, to North Korea and on through Iran, it’s all very evident. And through all of this, Trump displays an unnatural admiration for both Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin and frightfully seems to wish he could emulate both leaders. Case in point, while watching a CNN leaked story about Afghanistan that Trump didn’t want out yet, he vehemently said “These people should be executed! They’re scumbags!”, to a room full of his subordinates!
But is any of this surprising to those truly watching? Do you really need this book to tell you all of this? Highly doubtful and that was certainly my take as well. But surprisingly, to me at least, was Bolton’s approach to all of this; it was concise, mature and didn’t devolve into childish mud slinging like some of the other “anti-Trump” books tended to lean towards that I have read, or in some cases, fully made its bread and butter off of such sentiments. Whether I agree with his politics or not, Bolton comes off as a man truly intent on having what he feels is America’s best interest at hand, and having served under two other presidents prior to Trump, at showing the American public from a first hand and reliable account, just how incompetent and continually unhinged Trump truly is. And again, from a mature and measured perspective. Despite Bolton’s understandable frustrations becoming more manifest as the book rolls on, it was not as “anti-Trump” as I initially -and fully expected it- to be, despite it very much exposing every Donald Trump weakness. The true warning and revealing aspect of this book is asking what Trump as a president will be like if he is re-elected and no longer has to base his every erratic impulse around the fear of not getting four more years. Many of his nearly disastrous first term decisions that he held back on, were solely based around that prospect. THAT, my friends, is one hell of a scary thought!
The biggest downside to this book was Bolton himself. Arrogant most of the time, pompous to a fault at others, his consistent agenda here seemed to be to let the reader know of his every GREAT dealing he has made on the world stage and every comment that he received from his colleagues to drive home that point, for that matter! “They should rename this the Bolton Wing of the White House” someone once rattled off to Bolton after a “genius” idea of his went through. Jesus, dude...a little humility could have went a long way here in driving home his other, more important points in the book, but Bolton clearly never considered that route.
Did I enjoy this book? Absolutely! I devoured it much more quickly than I even expected to and I admit, having limited knowledge at such dense and in-depth governmental workings, I was sometimes confused about what I was reading because the amount of information expelled here can be quite daunting to the untrained mind, but I certainly got the gist of it all and greatly appreciated the insider look that it gives the reader.
If you’re interested in seeing -oftentimes in real time (I’m sure Bolton was writing this book as scenarios played out) how politics work - or in learning more in depth at the failings of Donald Trump in general, then definitely give this book a read for yourself. I fully realize that probably everything I read is not the whole truth, because Bolton is after all a politician, but a grain of salt my friends....a grain of salt, and in the end, I for one even then still don’t regret reading or buying this. Not at all.
informative
sad
slow-paced
Hard for me to rate this book. On the one hand, it surprisingly made Trump more human to me. While I refrain from calling myself a strict Democrat, I am certainly left leaning anywhere from just left of center to as far left as the left stretches depending on what is being discussed. So it’s been easy for me to demonize him and see him as a colossal embarrassment to this country for many years (including the decades we have in common before 2016). On the other hand, while I can see him as more human than before, it really dug into his buffoonery, so it failed to elevate him as much more than the six year old inner child that is in his driver’s seat.
I was also conflicted about the author. He is simultaneously unlikeable and pitiful. I dislike how he felt so defensive throughout the book, constantly having to show why he really believed himself to be the smartest and best credentialed man on staff. But it’s this same reason that makes it so easy to pity him.
45 lost the popular vote in 16, lost the election entirely in 20, and yet is still running again in 24. I’m reminded of my college choir director who asked me why I kept coming back to audition every year when I was rejected two years consecutively before and whether I was going to come back and try again in my senior year. That’s what it took for me to get the message that I lacked the talent to belong. What’s it going to take for 45 to get the message? I was kind of hoping to get insight into his brain as to how this question could be answered. Instead, it was clear that he was in way over his head, could only think two dimensionally (are you with me or against me), and operated based on his self image as being entitled to impunity at every turn. So I found this book very frustrating.
Lastly, there were a lot of clear misses. Important topics like gun violence, BLM, anti Asian violence, vaccinations, abortion, and 45’s personal COVID infection were excluded. While I understand the author probably has little to do with these policies, he still has an insider’s view and could’ve made observations. I wish he had. I try to read a wide range of genres and topics to try to keep a balanced life outlook, to breathe air outside my echo chamber every so often, and to try to understand people from another point of view. I had hoped to achieve some of this through this book, but I was ultimately unable to - the materials were unavailable - probably because the author’s expertise and areas of interest have little overlap with the parts of politics that matter most to me. Since I know so little of foreign policy, I at least wanted to learn more about it, and in that sense, I think the book was someday successful.
I was also conflicted about the author. He is simultaneously unlikeable and pitiful. I dislike how he felt so defensive throughout the book, constantly having to show why he really believed himself to be the smartest and best credentialed man on staff. But it’s this same reason that makes it so easy to pity him.
45 lost the popular vote in 16, lost the election entirely in 20, and yet is still running again in 24. I’m reminded of my college choir director who asked me why I kept coming back to audition every year when I was rejected two years consecutively before and whether I was going to come back and try again in my senior year. That’s what it took for me to get the message that I lacked the talent to belong. What’s it going to take for 45 to get the message? I was kind of hoping to get insight into his brain as to how this question could be answered. Instead, it was clear that he was in way over his head, could only think two dimensionally (are you with me or against me), and operated based on his self image as being entitled to impunity at every turn. So I found this book very frustrating.
Lastly, there were a lot of clear misses. Important topics like gun violence, BLM, anti Asian violence, vaccinations, abortion, and 45’s personal COVID infection were excluded. While I understand the author probably has little to do with these policies, he still has an insider’s view and could’ve made observations. I wish he had. I try to read a wide range of genres and topics to try to keep a balanced life outlook, to breathe air outside my echo chamber every so often, and to try to understand people from another point of view. I had hoped to achieve some of this through this book, but I was ultimately unable to - the materials were unavailable - probably because the author’s expertise and areas of interest have little overlap with the parts of politics that matter most to me. Since I know so little of foreign policy, I at least wanted to learn more about it, and in that sense, I think the book was someday successful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Gaslighting, War
Here's some Hamilton lyrics for ya:
How does a bastard, republican, ambassador, adviser,
dropped in the middle of fury and fire,
acting like he's mightier and higher,
turn out to be a servant of a liar?
How does a bastard, republican, ambassador, adviser,
dropped in the middle of fury and fire,
acting like he's mightier and higher,
turn out to be a servant of a liar?