A Sacred Oath

Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times

By: Mark T. Esper

Narrated by: Joe Knezevich

Former Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper reveals the shocking details of his tumultuous tenure while serving in the Trump administration.

From June of 2019 until his firing by President Trump after the November 2020 election, Secretary Mark T. Esper led the Department of Defense through an unprecedented time in history—a period marked by growing threats and conflict abroad, a global pandemic unseen in a century, the greatest domestic unrest in two generations, and a White House seemingly bent on breaking accepted norms and conventions for political advantage. A Sacred Oath is Secretary Esper’s unvarnished and candid memoir of those extraordinary and dangerous times, and includes events and moments never before told.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Mark T. Esper (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

Excellent book

Mr.Esper gives a balanced but frightening inside look at the DOD and Trump’s attempts to use it against its’ own citizenry. You will walk away from this book thanking G-d that people had the moral courage to say no to a tyrant.

Opening consitant with "doing the right thing"

Opening consitant with "doing the right thing" argument which attracted me to buy the Book.

I will therefore "read" on ...

THEN HE RUINED IT

The book is well written and well performed. Plenty of insight, a few things that may be a little iffy. Secretary Esper describes Trump in literal terms that agree with most critiques from both sides. However, he countered his entire book in an interview by saying he'd vote for him again. It's like, WTF? have you read your own book?

we didn't shoot cruise missiles into Mexico

the US military didn't mass troops in front of the White House and shoot protesters in the legs at the president's request! we all oh a deep debt of gratitude to mark t esper. thank you . buy it, read it ,and appreciate the leadership that saved the day.

Fascinating eye opening

Educational, The book gives.. a special insight into the steps many people took to keep the Trump administration from coming off the rails

Not as spicy as imagined but interesting government procedural

To hear Mark tell it, he was the main check on Trump impulses to use the military to start a half dozen extra wars during his time as sec. defense.
I’ve read a half dozen tell-alls about the Trump presidency, this one is less spicy than others because he had less exposure to Trump (at times almost avoiding him to prevent excessive use of the military) and Mark is relatively restrained in his criticism.

This book is very much Mark’s apologia for many incidents that happened while he was in office, and a lot of anecdotes seem included mostly because the media went on to misreport them, and Mark wants to have his say. If you didn’t follow the news closely during these years then you may not remember all of these or have much of a dog in the fight. In some ways this book feels like Mark’s resume and he goes on at length at how much he accomplished as secretary of defense.

I was unexpectedly interested in the behind-the-scenes thinking of how Mark was preparing the DoD to match China in 2035+ time frame, adjusting troop deployments, considering the variety of tools available to handle international incidents, negotiating with foreign heads of state over military base placement, etc. all of that global hegemony stuff that makes up Americas bonkers foreign policy - you get to see how the sausage is made.

So I came into this book hoping for spice, got a little bit of that but mostly enjoyed the look at how American foreign policy is actualized.

It is quite a long book, and it’s full of brave officers “doing the right thing” by commissioning studies into the feasibility of troop movements, so I am only doing 4 stars as I think the audience may be narrow - just dorks like me.

Worth the read indeed

Straight shooter Mark Esper reveals what it was like working in the Trump administration. How he and others Had to deal with Donald Trump's sometimes very scary ideas and demands and how others in the administration had to curve and circum navigate his wants to maintain sanity. Good stuff, sometimes a bit long winded but worth the read

A Sacred Oath

This was a wonderful book. I appreciate how Mr. Esper described how his office worked. Thanks to him for his careful way of handling such difficult assignments. I have one request. Please run for President as you have everything a person would need to protect and guide our country. You would have my vote!

Running for President?

Mark’s book is just another form of media. It was great to learn of more than 50 yrs of behind the scenes running of the DOD. My white Father was proud the serve under General Greene who was black. Hopefully the future is safer because of his commitment to the Constitution!

Securing What We Hold Dear

Narrator excellent. Gallant patriots defended our Constitution in the midst of perhaps the most threatening time in our history. No need to name call, simply the reality in force.