mildhonestbonsai's review
4.0
At first I didn't want to read this book because I felt like I wasn't going to get much of what I already don't know myself about this administration just by witnessing with what is going on. I will say that I don't regret reading the book since it gave me more insight of what I already knew. It also reminded me of other events that happened in this first term that I completely forgot since being in this pandemic felt like 2016 - 2019 was 100 years ago.
I will just leave this review with a passage from the book:
"A president must be willing to share the worst with the people, the bad news with the good. All presidents have a large obligation ato inform, warn, protect, to define goals and the true national interest. It should be a truth-telling to response to the world especially in crisis. Trump has, instead, enshrined in personal impulse as a governing principle of his presidency."
I will just leave this review with a passage from the book:
"A president must be willing to share the worst with the people, the bad news with the good. All presidents have a large obligation ato inform, warn, protect, to define goals and the true national interest. It should be a truth-telling to response to the world especially in crisis. Trump has, instead, enshrined in personal impulse as a governing principle of his presidency."
fedak's review
3.0
Not a whole lot in here that wasn't in the news or in the articles that surrounded the release of the book.
Would rather have just listened to the raw interviews that the books were based on.
Would rather have just listened to the raw interviews that the books were based on.
sfletcher26's review against another edition
4.0
I've been reading Bob Woodward books for about 10 years now. As the pre eminent chronicler of the American Presidency, and not being American, he has become my go to writer in my attempt to understand who each incumbent is, or at least wants to appear to be. His books are always interesting and alway make me think differently about the subject. In many ways this book is no different.
For the whole of the Trump Presidency I have had a picture of all the major players (including the Trumps, Kushner, Barr, Graham, Mattis and Bolton) and none if them have been particularly flattering. Each and every one of them have struck me as self-serving, hypocritical, egotists who have no compassion or sense of personal or corporate honour. This is a view fed by the media's view and my own personal prejudices and whilst its not completely inaccurate, Woodward shows that its not completely accurate either. Indeed Graham in particular, a man for whom I have nothing but scorn, seems marginally less contemptible in reality. Like Woodward though I will never be convinced that Trump is anything other than the wrong man in the job, out of his depth lashing out at anyone and everyone in his attempt to keep his head above water.
Not Woodward's best but still a book that's worth reading.
For the whole of the Trump Presidency I have had a picture of all the major players (including the Trumps, Kushner, Barr, Graham, Mattis and Bolton) and none if them have been particularly flattering. Each and every one of them have struck me as self-serving, hypocritical, egotists who have no compassion or sense of personal or corporate honour. This is a view fed by the media's view and my own personal prejudices and whilst its not completely inaccurate, Woodward shows that its not completely accurate either. Indeed Graham in particular, a man for whom I have nothing but scorn, seems marginally less contemptible in reality. Like Woodward though I will never be convinced that Trump is anything other than the wrong man in the job, out of his depth lashing out at anyone and everyone in his attempt to keep his head above water.
Not Woodward's best but still a book that's worth reading.
juliana_aldous's review
5.0
There is a bit more open editorializing in this book compared to other Woodward books, and I'm okay with that. At this point, and with so many inside books about US Presidents, he deserves to have a bit of say, especially at this time and with such a dangerous man in our highest office.
He sums up the book with this, "When his performance as president is taken in its entirety, I can only reach one conclusion: Trump is the wrong man for the job." We should listen to him. The 391 pages that precede that sentence are Woodward's case.
He sums up the book with this, "When his performance as president is taken in its entirety, I can only reach one conclusion: Trump is the wrong man for the job." We should listen to him. The 391 pages that precede that sentence are Woodward's case.
carriehaley89's review
4.0
This isn’t necessarily a genre I will frequent often, but this book was interesting and well written. I felt like it was a fair interpretation of the interviews between Woodward and former President Trump.
kdimercurio's review
3.0
3.5 for me - it was worth reading to get an inside perspective on so many of the shenans that happened in the last 4 years, especially from the folks around trump. But maybe wait a couple of years til this is all (hopefully) more in the rearview...
felit's review against another edition
5.0
This is the very few characters that the only thing I feel on is absurdity. I enjoy the book though, giving us the insider view of an unprecedented presidency.
nachtfalke's review
5.0
I'm experiencing Trump fatigue, to be honest. - That said, the information contained in the book needs an EVEN bigger audience. A few hundred years from now, this and Woodward's earlier sister book are what people are going to look at when they investigate the "Trump Era".