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hollyhandal 's review for:
The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir
by John R. Bolton
I picked up this book because I can't resist a good "inside account." Let me start out by saying that this is an incredibly weighty book, and the material is oftentimes dry and difficult to get through. If I had read a hardcopy of this book, I wouldn't have been able to make it very far, but because it was on audiobook, I was able to keep it on in the background of my day and tune out the boring parts.
I thought he did a pretty good job of keeping his perspective fair and his criticism of Trump relatively factual and unemotional. I think we all understand to some extent the way that Trump made decisions and operated while he was in office, but this gives an even greater understanding of some of the ways he thought through issues and made decisions accordingly. I don't know that it revealed anything particularly eye-opening about Trump's character, but as a Psych nerd, I enjoyed dissecting the workings of his mind as he sat in meetings with international leaders and how he responded to the information of his advisors.
If anything, I think it confirmed my understanding that Trump made most of his presidential decisions according to what would 1) be in his own personal interest and 2) what would make him look best in the eyes of the country and the world.
Overall, I thought it was a good and fair political memoir, however, I'm absolutely no expert and can't speak to how accurate his account truly was. I also think the book suffered from Bolton's lack of critique of his own decisions while serving. He, unsurprisingly, lauds his expertise and never gives any hint that he made poor decisions. I think of Condoleeza Rice and the way she's spoken about her time serving President George W. Bush; she's upfront and honest about the things she would have done differently, and I think that makes her incredibly trustworthy and noble, as opposed to Bolton, who seemed to have thrown his hands up in several situations with Trump, and thought Trump was just going to do whatever he wanted to do. Perhaps this was the case- and given the way that Trump couldn't seem to view complex matters differently than an adolescent makes Bolton's position understandable. Still- could Bolton have done things differently to persuade Trump while in office? Could he have held a stronger position and advocated more effectively for what he thought Trump should do? These are questions I wish he would have explored.
I thought he did a pretty good job of keeping his perspective fair and his criticism of Trump relatively factual and unemotional. I think we all understand to some extent the way that Trump made decisions and operated while he was in office, but this gives an even greater understanding of some of the ways he thought through issues and made decisions accordingly. I don't know that it revealed anything particularly eye-opening about Trump's character, but as a Psych nerd, I enjoyed dissecting the workings of his mind as he sat in meetings with international leaders and how he responded to the information of his advisors.
If anything, I think it confirmed my understanding that Trump made most of his presidential decisions according to what would 1) be in his own personal interest and 2) what would make him look best in the eyes of the country and the world.
Overall, I thought it was a good and fair political memoir, however, I'm absolutely no expert and can't speak to how accurate his account truly was. I also think the book suffered from Bolton's lack of critique of his own decisions while serving. He, unsurprisingly, lauds his expertise and never gives any hint that he made poor decisions. I think of Condoleeza Rice and the way she's spoken about her time serving President George W. Bush; she's upfront and honest about the things she would have done differently, and I think that makes her incredibly trustworthy and noble, as opposed to Bolton, who seemed to have thrown his hands up in several situations with Trump, and thought Trump was just going to do whatever he wanted to do. Perhaps this was the case- and given the way that Trump couldn't seem to view complex matters differently than an adolescent makes Bolton's position understandable. Still- could Bolton have done things differently to persuade Trump while in office? Could he have held a stronger position and advocated more effectively for what he thought Trump should do? These are questions I wish he would have explored.