The Room Where It Happened
A White House Memoir
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The Room Where It Happened
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Narrated by:
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Robert Petkoff
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John Bolton - epilogue
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Written by:
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John Bolton
About this listen
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 AudioWhat listeners say about The Room Where It Happened
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jon W
- 2020-07-26
Must read!
Bolton lays out the facts in a easy to understand and objective manner. This book is crucial for liberals to understand the inner workings of the current US federal government and especially important for conservatives to read before deciding to support Trump in the coming 2020 election.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David Harrison
- 2020-11-02
Just ok for me
I don’t know if I was just over excited to hear this but was a little disappointed with the book.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Ian Pont
- 2020-08-08
Room where it happened
Narrator was excellent. Lost interest in detail as there was too much to remember. to be redundant, too many facts/opinions to decipher accurately. But, for a President to be so misinformed especially of a Great country like the U.S. is remarkable
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Ryan
- 2020-07-29
Interesting read. Too many off hand criticisms
The behind the scenes stories are very interesting but undermined by conjecture about the previous administration without providing any discussion around the point.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- stephanie charland
- 2025-03-03
Great insight
he has a great reading voice. incredible stories from the Oval office and beyond. Wish there were more of him.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Faegi
- 2020-07-18
Very credible man.
I came away with great respect for the man although I disagree with his politics
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- yannick parisien
- 2020-08-13
Long but descriptive
Good book. Would recommend to everyone. Sometimes it felt like it was long. I just can’t imagine what this guy went through. I would’ve quit at so many occasions if I was in his place.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- mkane
- 2020-08-06
Dry and boring
I should have realized he was only out to justify his being. Which he didn't. As he didn't testify, I shouldn't have bought his book. My bad.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Martell Thompson
- 2020-07-04
Deterrence
This is a serious mémoire on policy, corruption and the rule if law that should be taking seriously. While I disagree with the author's assertion with respect to omerta, I thank him for writing the book while acknowledging my indulgence. This book could be considered to be a necessary deterrence activity.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Shane Lynch
- 2020-07-22
Interesting
Interesting listen, I probably wouldn’t spend the time to read it. Simply confirms the obviously about Trump.
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