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2.71 AVERAGE
2.71 AVERAGE
I think this is a book any American would benefit from reading
Dense, hard to follow, not super relevant - lots of national security info
This was a long read, not a long book per se, but very tedious and self-absorbed. John Bolton is simply not someone who writes to entertain, rather to ploddingly inform. Sentence structure is stilted and fragmented. Paragraphs are a mishmash collection of then and which, so you never really get a nice, elegant narrative flow (though that might be too liberal a concept for the author). Basically, Bolton's prose (if we're calling it that) reads like he just transcribed his notes together into one, long (there's that word again) story.
So, that dings 3 stars off my rating. The 2 stars are reserved at just how well he conveys Trump's incompetence. Nothing new here; no great surprise. A 12-year-old with ADHD would be a better president. Honestly, a good editor could've shaved 200 pages off this book and it would've be a much better read.
So, that dings 3 stars off my rating. The 2 stars are reserved at just how well he conveys Trump's incompetence. Nothing new here; no great surprise. A 12-year-old with ADHD would be a better president. Honestly, a good editor could've shaved 200 pages off this book and it would've be a much better read.
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
While I recommend reading The Room Where It Happened, I also recommend to not buy it. Don't put anymore money into the hands of yet another egoist who thinks more of his own point of view than he does of the country. I didn't buy the book. I borrowed it. Funny how in the two weeks after the 2020 election of Joe Biden, Bolton is on the media decrying the possibility of another four years of Trump if he somehow manipulates the courts to throw out ballots. (He won't succeed, thank God and the judges who value their responsibility to the law.) Hey, John, you could have extended some effort in saving the country by testifying at 45's impeachment because you knew he is a clear and present danger to democracy, even if the Articles of Impeachment didn't address that overarching concern. Instead, you chose legalism to justify your dereliction of duty. If you had testified, you probably wouldn't have become more loved or respected; but you would have a had a visible patriotic leg to stand on, even without a Senate conviction.
So, this book is a slog because Bolton includes a lot of detail. He includes conversations nearly verbatim. He also recounts the logistics of maneuvering an unqualified, incompetent, self-absorbed, eminently manipulable executive through setting policy - often to have the work undermined by a countervailing or mistimed tweet. Bolton's tone is sardonic when describing Trump. 45 wasn't important to Bolton. Policy is Bolton's sole concern. Trump was simply a vehicle for Bolton to implement his own foreign policy.
If you're new like me to following the details of US governmental policy (say since November 8, 2016), the book provides a good insight into Bolton's thought processes and how he (and others in prior administrations) got the USA into forever wars. Bolton seems to believe that government's singular goal is to wield hard power in the world, and that his role as National Security Advisor was to "guide" Trump toward exercising that power. Bolton explains his positions pretty well through various episodes in foreign policy during his tenure in 45's administration. His is a valid point of view that should be at the table when considering how the US should act in the world; but it should be subordinated to policies based on knowledge and justice. The US should aspire to identify and effectively constrain bad actors in the world without resorting to bombardment and broad sanctions based on bigotry. Unfortunately, I did not get from this book an understanding of why Bolton has selected some countries as particular objects of his vengeance. His own history with certain regimes seems to be the primary driver. Perhaps if Bolton becomes significant again in world events, I would consider reading some of his earlier works.
Bolton's mind seems closed to anything that would distract him from his own objective, even if those distracting events are a matter of national security. He doesn't read people well. I find it hard to believe that as NSA he was ignorant of Rudy Giuliani and Gordon Sondlund conducting an independent foreign policy. He dismisses their clumsy, possibly illegal efforts right up until impeachment as "Giuliani's fantasies". Bolton simply avoids engaging with people whose actions he couldn't rationalize. For example, he calls Kushner and Mnuchin "Democrats" (they're not) and basically laughs them off as annoying but inconsequential to his own mission. But isn't the job to coordinate national security? How is national security served with all these people doing their own thing? (I recognize that Trump's executive style fosters chaos which no one can actually manage. But I would expect the NSA to express some concern about all the insider tRUmpists running over the country for personal profit.)
Pompeo played Bolton the whole time. He, Mattis, and Bolton from the beginning discussed the possibility of resigning during every new crisis of their trying to manage their boss. Pompeo avoided Bolton quite a lot, obviously patronizing him when they finally did communicate. Mattis is gone. Bolton is gone. Pompeo is still doing his own thing in the administration. Who knows what that is? Even now in a lame duck administration, Pompeo is skipping along above(?) the fray, visiting heads of state at taxpayer expense for no publicly known purpose. Is he grooming potential clients for a private sector career? I have to give Bolton credit: abhorrent as his hard line approach to world domination is, I don't get the sense that he's a grifter like the others, except for using his time to write this book rather than testify at 45's impeachment.
So, that's it. I found the book interesting enough not to quit on it, even though it took me five months to read it. I think it may be important to read Bolton's view (along with others') into what went on in the Trump administration. But, don't spend your money on it.
So, this book is a slog because Bolton includes a lot of detail. He includes conversations nearly verbatim. He also recounts the logistics of maneuvering an unqualified, incompetent, self-absorbed, eminently manipulable executive through setting policy - often to have the work undermined by a countervailing or mistimed tweet. Bolton's tone is sardonic when describing Trump. 45 wasn't important to Bolton. Policy is Bolton's sole concern. Trump was simply a vehicle for Bolton to implement his own foreign policy.
If you're new like me to following the details of US governmental policy (say since November 8, 2016), the book provides a good insight into Bolton's thought processes and how he (and others in prior administrations) got the USA into forever wars. Bolton seems to believe that government's singular goal is to wield hard power in the world, and that his role as National Security Advisor was to "guide" Trump toward exercising that power. Bolton explains his positions pretty well through various episodes in foreign policy during his tenure in 45's administration. His is a valid point of view that should be at the table when considering how the US should act in the world; but it should be subordinated to policies based on knowledge and justice. The US should aspire to identify and effectively constrain bad actors in the world without resorting to bombardment and broad sanctions based on bigotry. Unfortunately, I did not get from this book an understanding of why Bolton has selected some countries as particular objects of his vengeance. His own history with certain regimes seems to be the primary driver. Perhaps if Bolton becomes significant again in world events, I would consider reading some of his earlier works.
Bolton's mind seems closed to anything that would distract him from his own objective, even if those distracting events are a matter of national security. He doesn't read people well. I find it hard to believe that as NSA he was ignorant of Rudy Giuliani and Gordon Sondlund conducting an independent foreign policy. He dismisses their clumsy, possibly illegal efforts right up until impeachment as "Giuliani's fantasies". Bolton simply avoids engaging with people whose actions he couldn't rationalize. For example, he calls Kushner and Mnuchin "Democrats" (they're not) and basically laughs them off as annoying but inconsequential to his own mission. But isn't the job to coordinate national security? How is national security served with all these people doing their own thing? (I recognize that Trump's executive style fosters chaos which no one can actually manage. But I would expect the NSA to express some concern about all the insider tRUmpists running over the country for personal profit.)
Pompeo played Bolton the whole time. He, Mattis, and Bolton from the beginning discussed the possibility of resigning during every new crisis of their trying to manage their boss. Pompeo avoided Bolton quite a lot, obviously patronizing him when they finally did communicate. Mattis is gone. Bolton is gone. Pompeo is still doing his own thing in the administration. Who knows what that is? Even now in a lame duck administration, Pompeo is skipping along above(?) the fray, visiting heads of state at taxpayer expense for no publicly known purpose. Is he grooming potential clients for a private sector career? I have to give Bolton credit: abhorrent as his hard line approach to world domination is, I don't get the sense that he's a grifter like the others, except for using his time to write this book rather than testify at 45's impeachment.
So, that's it. I found the book interesting enough not to quit on it, even though it took me five months to read it. I think it may be important to read Bolton's view (along with others') into what went on in the Trump administration. But, don't spend your money on it.
A garbage book, about garbage people, that would have been better served if it were written on toilet paper and then ceremoniously flushed; sparing us all the egotistical ravings of its mustache-clad amateur author.
With the exception of the dated, cliché, and unnecessary dig at Chicago politics in the epilogue, this book gives a first-hand account of exactly what a sh*t show the White House is and why it is so extremely dangerous.
reflective
slow-paced