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The Room Where It Happened: A White House…
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The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir (edition 2020)

by John Bolton (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
8983423,734 (3.14)14
John Bolton served as National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump for 519 days. A seasoned public servant who had previously worked for Presidents Reagan, Bush #41, and Bush #43, Bolton brought to the administration thirty years of experience in international issues and a reputation for tough, blunt talk. In his memoir, he offers a substantive and factual account of his time in the room where it happened.… (more)
Member:woodelph
Title:The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir
Authors:John Bolton (Author)
Info:Simon & Schuster (2020), 592 pages
Collections:Text, Nat, Your library
Rating:
Tags:location: livingroom

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The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir by John Bolton

  1. 21
    The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk (M_Clark)
    M_Clark: The Caine Mutiny also describes the challenge of working for a boss that is completely inept and who puts his crew in danger as a result.
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» See also 14 mentions

English (33)  German (1)  All languages (34)
Showing 1-5 of 33 (next | show all)
Insightful, detailed, explicit and title believable. We have a President who is truly clueless, narcissistic, spiteful and cares only about himself. Me Boltono notes on the infamous Ukraine call that got Trump impeached is jaw dropping. He did ask for a favor in asking to have the Ukrainian president get dirt on Biden and Clinton in exchange for military aid. ( )
  BenM2023 | Nov 22, 2023 |
A good insight into the operations within the USA government and particularly the Trump administration. A comparison of the sophisticated and insightful minds working within government and the purile minds of some politicians, especially Donald Trump.
  David-Block | Oct 17, 2023 |
I still despise Donald J. Trump for his willing ignorance, racism, cronyism, and keeping the poor and sick poorer and sicker.

Now that that's out of the way.

Narrator Robert Petkoff did a superb job pronouncing foreign names and terms. "The Room Where It Happened" was not easy to narrate.

Am I glad I read "The Room Where It Happened?"

No, and yes.

No. John Bolton rushed to get this out. It's choppy. I think he typed his notes and made a book. I know he could have written a much better accounting. His knowledge of politics in the nation and world, love of history and literature show through "The Room Where It Happened."

Yes.

I learned that John Bolton is intelligent and has his eyes open. He is not bound to a political agenda.

I learned about Steve Mnuchin in "The Room Where It Happened." Ridiculed by both media and by Trump, he turns out to be a neutral character, trying to keep the economy running. His errors come when he veers out of the realm of finance. In the end, if you want to praise someone for the good economy or the first round of stimulus checks during the pandemic, thank Steve Mnuchin.

Although I disagree with John Bolton's politics, I respect him. I didn't before reading his book. ( )
  nab6215 | Jan 18, 2022 |
Given all the publicity prior to the release of the book, I was curious about Bolton's story. Since there has been no real pushback from Trump or his administration, I assume that most of what is in the book is true. It's a very damning portrait of an incompetent president, mediocre cabinet officials and a lapdog administration. It's a very scary book because no one exhibits any confidence in this president's competency or credibility. General Kelly, Trump's ex chief of staff, shortly before he resigned, questioned how well Trump would perform or respond if there was another 9/11 situation.

I don't like John Bolton. I think he did a disservice to the country by revealing what he knew and thought of Trump in a book that he will profit from instead of testifying in Congress.

I have read a number of books about the Trump presidency and about Trump himself. I don't know if I have read anything that would give me any confidence that this man could handle a real crisis. I look at his response to coronavirus and realize his only concern is for himself and not for America.

It's a long book. Many parts of it are tedious recounts of discussions in meetings regarding North Korea, China, Syria, Venezuela and other hotspots.

I think you get the general gist of the book by watching Bolton on the news shows so unless you are a real political junkie, you may want to pass on this book. ( )
  writemoves | Oct 26, 2021 |
This book should be titled, "I'm Throwing Away My Shot."

The whole world wanted to know what Bolton had to say during the Impeachment hearing, but instead, he chose to wait and publish this collection of notes far after the fact.

While reading it, I thought, "Wow. I can't believe this jackass was able to publish this while the President is still in office." He, of course, goes on to explain why he is able to publish this book in the last part of the book by including his review of a book by Robert Gates. Because he is nowhere near concise. About anything. And that is the summary of my review.

I read the entire book, but I can't tell you much of what happened in the room except that he is a warmongering clown, the President is a big baby clown, and this entire administration is a car full of dangerous clowns.

And here we are in a constitutional crisis, with over 130,000 Americans dead, an economy in shambles and our foreign policy and place in the world diminished.

Thanks a lot, Bolton. Thanks for leaving your notes for future historians. ( )
1 vote auldhouse | Sep 30, 2021 |
Showing 1-5 of 33 (next | show all)
The book is bloated with self-importance, even though what it mostly recounts is Bolton not being able to accomplish very much. It toggles between two discordant registers: exceedingly tedious and slightly unhinged....
In another book by another writer, such anecdotes might land with a stunning force, but Bolton fails to present them that way, leaving them to swim in a stew of superfluous detail...
It’s a strange experience reading a book that begins with repeated salvos about “the intellectually lazy” by an author who refuses to think through anything very hard himself.
added by 2wonderY | editNew York Times, Jennifer Szalai (pay site) (Jun 18, 2020)
 
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John Bolton served as National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump for 519 days. A seasoned public servant who had previously worked for Presidents Reagan, Bush #41, and Bush #43, Bolton brought to the administration thirty years of experience in international issues and a reputation for tough, blunt talk. In his memoir, he offers a substantive and factual account of his time in the room where it happened.

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