George Stephanopoulos (1) (1961–)

This was going to be a four-star book, but deserves five stars for a couple key points.

First and foremost, 'The Situation Room', penned by the famed news correspondent George Stephanopoulos, is a look at the 'nerve center' of the White House, and arguably one of the key pillars in U.S. intelligence, named 'The Situation Room'. It's the area where President Obama and his team were photographed during the May 2011 raid which killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden (though that photo was taken show more in a side room of the Situation Room, not the main room), it's where continuity-of-government information and data was funneled during the 9/11 attacks, and where a number of former presidents (Trump and Nixon most glaringly) failed to regularly visit.

In short, The Situation Room is one of the most important facets of the executive branch, and George Stephanopoulos does a tremendous job tracking the room and its duties from its creation (at least in concept) during the JFK administration to its present-day state during the Biden administration. Stephanopoulos relies on numerous interviews, memoirs and other primary sources to compose this book, across all political spectra and throughout hierarchy. The author, having worked in the Clinton administration and so tuned in to the White House thanks to his reporting responsibilities, adds a material boost to the book with personal experiences interlaced, not to mention his ability to actually hold these interviews with sources, when other authors may have received more vanilla answers without the ability to dig a little deeper.

The book's primary focus is the development and maturation of the "Sit Room" over the decades, but gains a page-turning thriller aspect by relating multiple American (and international) crises over the years to how the Sit Room was involved. This includes Reagan's attempted assassination, the aforementioned bin Laden raid, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and even some pieces relating to the January 6th attempted insurrection. It's a comfortably long book, at 325 pages of reading material, and to me the book was exactly as long as it needed to be. Enough info and stories to be chock-full of interesting information, but not so much so as to become overbearing.

This book deserves its fifth star for how apolitical it remains, despite dealing explicitly with politics. George Stephanopoulos is one of the world's top reporters for a reason, and if for some reason you come away from (or enter into) this book with a view that he is biased, you are simply deluding yourself. He details the striking interest that Presidents Obama and Biden took in the Sit Room, as well as the lack of interest and apparent paranoia that kept President Trump away from it. Some unbelievable collapse of integrity in how Trump treated the Sit Room (and sensitive information in general) is evident - none of this is political, this is all fact, backed up by sources cited. It's simply on you if you refuse to believe it.

Four stars for a really exciting book about the history of one of the U.S. intelligence community's most important assets, and an additional star for the author's willingness to confront the good and the bad of recent political administrations (which he is well-positioned to do given his aforementioned placement in the news reporting/intel community), no matter how skewed those administrations were. And, of course, five stars to the men and women who work the Sit Room, who right the ship and keep the country moving when those at the top can't help but tweet their way towards World War III. Those employees, and the countless other government staffers behind the scenes, are the real heroes of our government, regardless of who sits in the Oval Office. show less

Many thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. It was outstanding!
The author, whom I have admired for a long time, is one of the pre-eminent political reporters of the current times. His experiences have led him to be ultra-qualified to analyze and report on political matters. And, he is funny to boot!
Stephanopoulos takes us deep into the history of the White House Situation Room. The room where the big decisions are made that will affect people world-wide. Starting with show more Kennedy, carrying through every president to Biden, the author offers insights and information about the decisions made in this little, unassuming room. The Kennedy assignation, the Vietnam War, the crazy exploits and meltdown of Nixon, the attempted hostage rescue in Iran, the takedown of Osama Bin Laden, and the January 6th insurrection. They are all covered here. Along with interviews with the people who were in the room, and the people responsible for the overall operation logistics of the room.
You get a real feel of being in the room. The struggles, disasters, and triumphs of the President's making the decisions. You can see which President's rose to the occasion, and which were found lacking.
I read the entire book in two sittings. I just could not put it down. It was just that good. Now I am going to let it sit for a short time, then go back and read it again. There's so much information in it, one reading just doesn't do it justice. That's the mark of a really, really good book! show less

Well, I know who I’m *not* voting for!
As a fairly apolitical person, I found this to be quite enjoyable, if only for the incredibly unique and chaotic stories found within - but that’s the entire book. I even listened to the interview at the end of the audiobook that recapped some of the stories told, because they were worth listening to again.
So many unsung heroes lie in these pages, and also assholes.

A personal and intimate perspective on many critical events of last 60 years. While Stephanopolos truly got to know the situation room when he worked in the Clinton administration he has made a thorough and painstaking effort to get a much more complete story. Some of the details come from presidential libraries and some from memories of the participants - subject to forgetting some details it has the ring of truth. The details off 9/11 and of the decision to go after Osama bin Laden are show more fascinating. I end up with more respect for the presidents and their ability to make use of the information obtained and synthesized by the situation room. Having lived through that era makes it poignant. show less