The Room Where It Happened

A White House Memoir

De: John Bolton

Narrado por: Robert Petkoff, John Bolton - epilogue

John Bolton reads the epilogue!

As President Trump’s national security advisor, John Bolton spent many of his 453 days in the room where it happened, and the facts speak for themselves. The result is a White House memoir that is the most comprehensive and substantial account of the Trump Administration and one of the few to date by a top-level official. With almost daily access to the president, John Bolton has produced a precise rendering of his days in and around the Oval Office. What Bolton saw astonished him: a president for whom getting reelected was the only thing that mattered, even if it meant endangering or weakening the nation.

“I am hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that wasn’t driven by reelection calculations,” he writes. In fact, he argues that the House committed impeachment malpractice by keeping their prosecution focused narrowly on Ukraine when Trump’s Ukraine-like transgressions existed across the full range of his foreign policy - and Bolton documents exactly what those were and the attempts by him and others in the administration to raise alarms about them. He shows a president addicted to chaos, who embraced our enemies and spurned our friends, and was deeply suspicious of his own government. In Bolton’s telling, all this helped put Trump on the bizarre road to impeachment.

“The differences between this presidency and previous ones I had served were stunning,” writes Bolton, who worked for Reagan, Bush 41, and Bush 43. He discovered a president who thought foreign policy is like closing a real estate deal - about personal relationships, made-for-TV showmanship, and advancing his own interests. As a result, the US lost an opportunity to confront its deepening threats, and in cases like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea ended up in a more vulnerable place.

Bolton’s account starts with his long march to the West Wing as Trump and others woo him for the national security job. The minute he lands, he has to deal with Syria’s chemical attack on the city of Douma and the crises after that never stop. As he writes early on, “If you don’t like turmoil, uncertainty, and risk - all the while being constantly overwhelmed with information, decisions to be made, and sheer amount of work - and enlivened by international and domestic personality and ego conflicts beyond description, try something else.”

The turmoil, conflicts, and egos are all there - from the upheaval in Venezuela, to the erratic and manipulative moves of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, to the showdowns at the G7 summits, the calculated warmongering by Iran, the crazy plan to bring the Taliban to Camp David, and the placating of an authoritarian China that ultimately exposed the world to its lethal lies. But this seasoned public servant also has a great eye for the Washington inside game, and his story is full of wit and wry humor about how he saw it played.

©2020 John Bolton (P)2020 Simon & Schuster Audio

The truth comes out from the biggest war hawk

I always thought Bolton was nuts. As a Republican I thought he was even too war hawk even for my own tastes. But at the end of the day, he is a Republican through and through. Unlike the false prophet posing inside the Oval Office. Bolton's narrative is concise and damning.

Truths About Trump Administration! Crazy

He was and is so ignorant! Scary someone so racist dumb to how politics work can make it to the white house

Let's be clear, Trump isn't one of us

Interesting on process and foreign policy. Surprising how much he blamed President Obama for Trump's failures. I think he could have explained Trump and how the National Security apparatus worked better.

Robert Petkoff is a great reader.

When People Show You Who They Are Believe Them

I am not a big follower of politics. Don’t get me wrong I am well aware that the United States has a man that is not equipped in any fashion to be President in the White House. I read The Art of the Deal a long time ago. Besides that just watch this man in the news, or pay attention to this tweets. Abhorrent. So, this book for me isn’t saying anything that’s a surprise. It reads like a textbook. This thing is SO BORING! Robert Petkoff is the only thing that kept me listening till the end. Even the part of the book that’s getting the most attention is anticlimactic. I had to rewind twice to make sure I hadn’t missed it. This author is SO narcissistic. He feels as I’d thought processes are so superior. Makes the book kind of nauseating, but I pressed on. With that being said it’s kind of sad. They are multiple instances in this book where author could have just gotten a spine and reported Trump to someone besides the person who is always acting like he is Trump’s personal attorney. He could have whistleblown on multiple people in Trump’s administration. I hope this book will make those who believe in this man who has no leadership ability realize they need to wake up. And for those who are doubting anything in this book please, open your eyes; John Bolton isn’t lying.

one snake eating another snake. No losses.

Hated to give my hard earned money to such a arrogant know it all coward.Reaks of self righteous. However warning of a outrageous selfish ignorance of a immoral president was worth the price.

Waiting for Bombshells

Bolton is very precise with time and date of every encounter mentioned yet it began to sound like filler to create a lengthy book. Pre-release hype about the contents of this tell-all gave most all away. Was hoping to learn about his non-action during the impeachment and very little was noted. He left out some meaty parts of history that many were looking for.

interesting but not earth shattering

First off, I'm impressed with his recollection of very minor details. Second, Amb. Bolton seems to have made a point to include every little complement he received during this period. That felt rather inflated. Even though I was a political science major many years ago, I would have appreciated a little more explanation of what some of the items were. Overall interesting insight but as my headline said, nothing earth shattering.

Like waiting for paint to dry.

Good accounting of his time in the White House but nothing new or earth shattering. Liked it and couldn't wait for it to end.
Take away: How difficult it would be to do your job and the right thing with a narcissistic, pathological rule breaker (for personal gain) like Trump.
Simply one of the worst humans ever to run this beautiful country.

What Happened?

The expected revelations were not in this book. It is a convoluted narrative told in a conceited manner that attempts to justify Mr Bolton's willingness to work for Trump and excoriate the Democrats for failing to issue a subpoena to obtain his testimony during the impeachment hearings. Enduring the minutiae of Trump's White House, even vicariously, was almost more than I could stand. The book reinforces what is common knowledge: Trump is a narcissistically brutal man who has no moral or ethical framework. Mr Bolton comes across as arrogant but sincere in his idealogy. He damages his tale with frequent diatribes against Democrats, the left, Obama and those who have views opposed to his. Conclusion: A lot of sound & fury, signifying nothing.

Loved it!!!

Incredible insight, lifting the veil on a tumultuous presidency. The author crticises career civil servants for trying to bend the administration to their will whilst never tiring of doing the same himself.