You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by vegantrav
The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir by John Bolton
5.0
This is not a salacious, gossip-laden memoir about the Trump Administration. It is a straightforward, highly detailed, candid recounting of John Bolton‘s time as President Trump’s national security advisor.
This book is not a “hit piece” against Donald Trump or Republicans. In fact, Bolton spends as much, if not more, time critiquing the policies and diplomacy of the Obama Administration than he does critiquing Trump. The vast majority of the book covers the day-to-day work of Bolton as national security advisor. For the first 100 pages or so, I found he book a bit tedious as Bolton describes in detail the intricacies of negotiations with sundry foreign diplomats, officials, and heads of state as well as the internal policy-making apparatus of the Trump Administration. As the book went on, however, I came to find it very informative and even engaging. More than anything else, I came away from this book with a newfound respect for Bolton—someone with whom I, as a pacifist and liberal, have found myself disagreeing with strongly in the past on foreign policy—and his realpolitik approach to foreign affairs. This memoir shows Bolton to be a dedicated public servant and an American patriot who truly has the best interests of his country at heart.
For those who are looking for a book that will glaringly indict Trump as a corrupt president, there is little in this book that has not been published in other tell-all books of the last few years. What separates this book from other books on the Trump presidency is that it is written by a staunch conservative Republican who never waivers in his commitment to his conservative principles.
Bolton’s prose is blunt and pointed, and he never downplays his opinions, especially in regards to his strong disagreements with the Obama Administration‘s policies and his frustrations with Trump’s fickleness and lack of focus.
Bolton never offers an opinion on whether Trump should have been removed from office. He indicates that he is very disturbed by what he observed during his time working in the Trump Administration, with his view most succinctly summarized in this quote: “This showed the asymmetry of Trump’s view of foreign affairs. He couldn’t tell the difference between his personal interests and the country’s interests” (page 348).
Having now read this book, I am impressed with John Bolton as a man of great integrity, and, surprisingly, I find myself in many ways much more sympathetic to Bolton’s views and approaches to foreign policy.
One final note on Bolton’s style: he has a very dry sense of humor, which made me laugh out loud on numerous occasions. As disturbing as much of this book is, it is also quite funny in many places.
This book is not a “hit piece” against Donald Trump or Republicans. In fact, Bolton spends as much, if not more, time critiquing the policies and diplomacy of the Obama Administration than he does critiquing Trump. The vast majority of the book covers the day-to-day work of Bolton as national security advisor. For the first 100 pages or so, I found he book a bit tedious as Bolton describes in detail the intricacies of negotiations with sundry foreign diplomats, officials, and heads of state as well as the internal policy-making apparatus of the Trump Administration. As the book went on, however, I came to find it very informative and even engaging. More than anything else, I came away from this book with a newfound respect for Bolton—someone with whom I, as a pacifist and liberal, have found myself disagreeing with strongly in the past on foreign policy—and his realpolitik approach to foreign affairs. This memoir shows Bolton to be a dedicated public servant and an American patriot who truly has the best interests of his country at heart.
For those who are looking for a book that will glaringly indict Trump as a corrupt president, there is little in this book that has not been published in other tell-all books of the last few years. What separates this book from other books on the Trump presidency is that it is written by a staunch conservative Republican who never waivers in his commitment to his conservative principles.
Bolton’s prose is blunt and pointed, and he never downplays his opinions, especially in regards to his strong disagreements with the Obama Administration‘s policies and his frustrations with Trump’s fickleness and lack of focus.
Bolton never offers an opinion on whether Trump should have been removed from office. He indicates that he is very disturbed by what he observed during his time working in the Trump Administration, with his view most succinctly summarized in this quote: “This showed the asymmetry of Trump’s view of foreign affairs. He couldn’t tell the difference between his personal interests and the country’s interests” (page 348).
Having now read this book, I am impressed with John Bolton as a man of great integrity, and, surprisingly, I find myself in many ways much more sympathetic to Bolton’s views and approaches to foreign policy.
One final note on Bolton’s style: he has a very dry sense of humor, which made me laugh out loud on numerous occasions. As disturbing as much of this book is, it is also quite funny in many places.