The Room Where It Happened
John Bolton
Simon & Schuster, 592 pp.
Review by David Williams
In the second act of the hit musical Hamilton Aaron Burr sings us the story of the famous Madison/Hamilton compromise that led to the passage of Hamilton’s economic plan and to the US Capital being located on the banks of the Potomac. We
know of the story primarily from the recollections of Thomas Jefferson, who naturally puts himself at the center. The compromise happened at a dinner for the three men hosted by Jefferson. Was this really what happened? We will never really know because, as Burr sings “No one else was in the Room where it happened.” In contemplating the results Burr goes on to point out that
No one really knows how the game is played
The art of the trade
How the sausage gets made
We just assume that it happens
But no one else is in
The room where it happens
In his new book former National security advisor John Bolton draws back the curtain and show us The Room Where it Happened. It is a fascinating and rather depressing look at the inner workings of the Trump White House. When the book was first announced there was a giant clamor among people who had not read the book. Everyone thought it was going to be a tell all. Both Trump critics and Trump fans expected the book to be a salacious tell all full of dirty details. The Trump critics couldn’t wait for the expose. Finally, they would have the dirt that should have been available at the impeachment. Trump supporters prepared by declaring everything in the book that they had not read to be “fake news” and nothing but lies. The truth was actually far more mundane.
During the trial of Adolph Eichmann the philosopher Hannah Arendt coined the term “The banality of evil” to describe men like Eichmann who take part in a great evil, but make the evil sound almost tedious and boring. Bolton’s book could almost be subtitled the Banality of Incompetence. If you are looking for Donald Trump, Evil Genius then you will be very disappointed in this book. The Trump that you see here isn’t so much diabolical as simply incompetent and completely over his head. This should not be a big surprise to anyone who has observed Trump’s career over the years. The sheer boringness is in many ways the worst part of the book. Yes, there are some salacious stories here. Most of the book is not salacious, it’s just the tediousness of a White House that has no actual direction other than the whim of Donald Trump.
If you want a typical story from this book a good example would be the talks between Trump and Kim Jong Un. During their first meeting Trump mentioned his calling Kim “Rocket Man” and learned that Kim did not know the Elton John song. When Trump sent Mike Pompeo to engage in the next round of talks he autographed an Elton John Greatest Hits CD as a gift for Kim. During the phone debrief after Pompeo left the talks “Trump didn’t seem to realize Pompeo hadn’t actually seen Kim Jong Un, asking if Pompeo had handed over the Trump-autographed copy of Elton John’s “Rocket Man” CD, which Pompeo had not. Getting this CD to Kim remained a high priority for several months.” This is a typical story.
Another good example is a little more dangerous. During a conflict with Turkey there was an impasse. The solution came from Mike Pence: “the Vice President suggested Jared Kushner call Turkey’s Finance Minister, since they were both sons-in-law of their respective countries’ leaders. Really, what could go wrong? I briefed Pompeo and Mnuchin on this new “son-in-law channel,” and they both exploded, Mnuchin because the Turkish son-in-law was Finance Minister, his counterpart, and Pompeo because this was one more example of Kushner’s doing international negotiations he shouldn’t have been doing (along with the never-quite-ready Middle East peace plan). I always enjoyed bringing good news.” Pence suggesting that foreign policy be handled by members of “the family” is so typical of this administration that we almost forget that the US government is not some third world dictatorship or a mob family and this is not how things are supposed to work.
The Room Where It Happened is a memoir, it is not a book that has been researched by a third party. This means that it is very much written from Bolton’s perspective and with his own prejudices. His likes and dislikes come through. He was obviously not close to UN Ambassador Nikki Haley or to Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis. On the other hand, you see him working closely with John Kelly and Mike Pompeo. These personal feelings are quite apparent and they should be taken into account when reading the book. Bolton’s writing is not florid. It is very straight forward. In many ways you almost get the feeling that immediately after every meeting Bolton went straight to a quiet place and wrote down his notes. The book was little more than filling in a few blanks in the notes and framing the narratives. Trump people deny the unflattering portrait of the President in the pages, but the stories ring true. In the end we may never know what happened in these rooms. But the straight ahead look at Trump’s dysfunctional foreign policy shows us that a lot of damage control will be necessary in the years ahead.
I can’t mention a Hamilton song and then not give you a chance to listen.
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