‘This is what I saw. It is the story of an unlikely – and unusual – President, whose extraordinary talents were in constant competition with glaring flaws that sometimes bordered on self-sabotage.’
I’ve read four or five books about the Trump presidency. My main interest is in trying to follow understand the political processes and systems of governance. I’m less interested in the personalities involved, except where they directly impact on decision-making. I picked this book up because I thought it would offer me some greater insight into the people around President Trump and how they functioned.
Sigh. I read about backstabbing, chaos and dysfunction. I read about leaks and schemes. I read about organisational failure. I knew most of this, what I was looking for was some analysis of it. But, I should have focussed on the fact that this was a book about Cliff Sims, and his 500 days in the White House, not a book about the Trump administration.
‘We had no idea that early everything we were being told was wrong.’
I kept reading, and I was pleased to get to the end. I learned nothing from this book that I’d not read elsewhere. I was pleased to return the book to the library.
‘This job is a lot harder than I thought it would be.’ (Donald Trump, quoted by Cliff Sims)
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Tasmanian Bibliophile @Large 