Rage

The more I think about it, the more this book gets to me. The conversations Woodward has recorded absolutely blow my mind. While this book is not as engaging as Disloyal by Cohen was, writing-wise, it more than makes up for it in the sheer amount of data and detailed observations from those around the president. This isn’t Watergate type investigating, but it’s thorough and instructive. You can tell it’s written by a seasoned journalist. I’m a life-long Republican who read Rage because I’m looking for more data on Trump. I am spending so much time internally debating if I can in good conscience vote for Trump simply to stay loyal to the Republican party. I make up my mind to vote for someone else, swing back and tell myself I’d be supporting the party – not Trump – if I vote for him, and the pendulum starts its swing back again. There are things that I really like about the Republican party and things that I don’t like. A major sticking-point at the moment is that they nominated Trump for reelection. I still cannot wrap my mind around that. Anyway, I’d recently read Disloyal by Michael Cohen, which reinforced my belief, developed over the last 8 or 9 months, that there is something not quite right with President Trump. His actions as reported in the news and his tweets have been simply bizarre. The inconsistencies and contradictions in his narrative, the self-centeredness and self-promoting, the lies, the seeming lack of accurate recall, the level of hate and rage leveled at people who were recently praised, it’s all strangely familiar. I’m one of the caregivers for my dad-in-law, who suffers from narcissism, Parkinsonism, and dementia, among other things, and Trump’s and my dad-in-law’s behaviors are weirdly and alarmingly alike. But I wanted more data since I can’t order an in-depth cognitive competency assessment for Trump. (Perhaps we can start a change dot org petition for cognitive testing and an MRI of his brain to rule out physical causes?) I felt that Bob Woodward, with his journalistic training, might possibly have a more balanced accounting given all the interviews he did gathering background for this book. I didn’t expect him to be totally unbiased, and I’m sure he wasn’t. But I did expect him to report the facts and give accurate quotes from recorded interviews, and he seems to have done that. I was a bit upset over the reveal a few days ago that Woodward knew Trump was taking the virus seriously in private, but minimizing it to the American people and had not reported that at the time, but I’d already preordered the book and committed myself mentally to reading it. I wondered if Woodward withheld that information to sell more books later, vying for another Pulitzer. I have no clue. (Woodward does have a comment about not being focused on that at the time.) Trump seems to have cognitive issues, and yet, it is really hard for me to step across party lines. I have voted Republican since the year I tromped through the snow in New Hampshire with other college students campaigning for Reagan and worked a press conference held for him on my university’s campus. This will probably the first general election that I do not vote for the Republican candidate. Truthfully, I don’t particularly like Biden, either. He’s a professional politician who’s run for president multiple times since the 80’s. That’s not a rousing endorsement in my book. (Please, people, give us someone new and idealistic.) And yet, he’s the lesser evil in my eyes at the moment. (And, no, I’m not saying he’s evil. That’s an expression.) Frankly, I want new parties or no parties or some change in the system that encourages new blood and better candidates or lets us choose new candidates if we don’t like the ones that we are offered. (Yes, I know I’m ranting.) Trump has serious cognitive issues as well based on his bizarre utterances. Some instances of him acting as if he had no idea of his previous conversations include when he told his intelligence heads to hold a briefing and then interrogated them the next day wondering why they had done that. Coats had to tell Trump, “because you told us to.” Not to mention recently Trump thought that simple cognitive test was hard and was confused enough that he thought that acing it meant that he was very intelligent. I can attest from watching my dad that a person can have serious cognitive deficits and still ace that test easily. The smarter you are, the longer you can fool doctors who only do the minimum testing. I’m not going to rehash the book, except to include some quotes below. The major takeaway from Rage is more testimony about Trump handling people, situations, and the global and national virus outbreak by spurning the advice of the experts he hired, disparaging those very experts, and doing things his way: impromptu, uninformed, and aimed almost totally at his own reelection. Due to Rage (and also Disloyal) I’m convinced that Trump has always been a conniving, amoral narcissist that Woodward has tried to represent honestly. His conclusion matches what Cohen implies: “Trump is the wrong man for the job.” Some quotes from Rage: “And in an interview with President Trump on March 19, six weeks before I learned of O’Brien’s and Pottinger’s warnings, the president said his statements in the early weeks of the virus had been deliberately designed to not draw attention to it. ‘I wanted to always play it down,” Trump told me. “I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.’” “‘And I think he’s going to have it in good shape,’ Trump said, ‘but you know, it’s a very tricky situation.’ What made it ‘tricky’? ‘It goes through air,’ Trump said. ‘That’s always tougher than the touch. You don’t have to touch things. Right? But the air, you just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed. And so that’s a very tricky one. That’s a very delicate one. It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flus.” "“Look,” Trump said, “when you’re running a country it’s full of surprises. There’s dynamite behind every door.” Years ago, I had once heard a similar expression used by military forces to describe the hazards and nerve-racking emotions of house-to-house searches in a violent combat zone. I was surprised at this “dynamite behind every door” language from Trump. Instead of being his usual upbeat, cheerleading or angry self, the president sounded foreboding, even unconfident with a touch of unexpected fatalism." “‘There’s dynamite behind every door’ seemed the most self-aware statement about the jeopardy, pressures and responsibilities of the presidency I had heard Trump make in public or private. Yet the unexpected headline from the call was also his detailed knowledge of the virus and his description of it as so deadly so early in February, more than a month before it began to engulf him, his presidency and the United States. And so at odds with his public tone.” “Decision by tweet, often without warning to those charged with executing his policies, was one of the biggest sticks of dynamite behind the door.” “On January 28, 2020, when Trump’s national security adviser and his deputy warned Trump that the virus would be—not might be, but would be—the biggest national security threat to his presidency, the leadership clock had to be reset. It was a detailed forecast, supported by evidence and experience that unfortunately turned out to be correct. Presidents are the executive branch. There was a duty to warn. To listen, to plan, and to take care.” “At the next intelligence briefing, Trump blew up in a rage and began to chew them all out. What was that briefing? he asked, apparently upset about all the focus on Russia. “Why’d you do that?” “Because we were told to do that by you,” Coats said.” “For nearly 50 years, I have written about nine presidents from Nixon to Trump—20 percent of the 45 U.S. presidents. A president must be willing to share the worst with the people, the bad news with the good. All presidents have a large obligation to inform, warn, protect, to define goals and the true national interest. It should be a truth-telling response to the world, especially in crisis. Trump has, instead, enshrined personal impulse as a governing principle of his presidency.” “When his performance as president is taken in its entirety, I can only reach one conclusion: Trump is the wrong man for the job.”

Bob Woodward’s is THE superstar of the insider presidential politics genre. This book, “Rage”, brilliantly shows why. His writing covers 9 presidents, from Nixon to Trump. As I see it if anyone has perspective and an eye to modern presidential history, this journalist is it. Woodward’s previous book about the Trump presidency, “Fear”, didn’t include interviews with the President as either Trump or his staff stonewalled interview requests to speak directly to Trump. Yet, Woodward’s reputation and gravitas isn’t something to be ignored, and Trump wasn’t happy when “Fear” came out and he wasn’t part of it. Whatever one thinks of Trump, he does have a certain genius for self-promotion — living by the mantra that the only bad publicity is no publicity at all. Trump didn’t make the mistake of ignoring Woodward with this book. He granted Woodward 18 interviews over an 8 months in 9 hours of conversations (which the President knew were recorded on tape or notes). Woodward interviewed many current and past insiders in the Trump administration, among them it seems were Rex Tillerson, James Mattis, Dan Coats, and Jared Kushner, as well as insiders who spoke under “deep cover” meaning their words could be used but only anonymously, a standard and understandable practice in this type of book. Yet, what makes “Rage” unique among insider tell-alls is the President’s explicit participation and his approval for others to do the same. That is Woodward’s genius, getting people comfortable enough to open up and tell their story. This is the first book to explore Trump’s relationship with Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s dictator. Woodward had access to 27 letters Trump and Kim exchanged over their bizarre relationship. Reading the gushing letters, especially those coming from Kim, was oddly uncomfortable, yet Trump took great pride in calling them to Woodward’s attention, and perhaps deservedly so because of the historic implications. Despite the thrill of the promise of their meetings, nothing came to pass with their negotiations. While Trump notes with some sense of accmplishment, which Woodward acknowledges, that there hasn’t been war between the US and North Korea, there hasn’t been much else either. In addition, “Rage” is the first insider look into the COVID-19 pandemic response of the Trump administration. The Trump interviews happened between December 2019 to July 2020 as the pandemic unfolded. The President shocked Woodward in early February by telling him how dangerous and contagious the virus was, in very knowledgeable terms, while publicly Trump was telling the people the virus was minor, under control, and would disappear by April (2020). As I was finishing reading this book, the sad and shocking (yet not surprising) announcement that the President, his wife, and many key leaders of the government have all come down with the virus, does not escape ironic notice as he is sidelined by a virus he publicly touted as a hoax. Pride goeth before the fall. As Woodward has extensively interviewed more US presidents and their staffs, his perspective is valuable. The access he has been granted by ALL presidents (except Nixon) is because of his reputation for through and fair reporting. In “Fear”, despite Trump’s criticism, I thought that Woodward was quite fair to Trump, showing him in a sympathetic light. In “Rage” again, he shows fairness, a quality which is why Woodward consistently gets the presidential access he does. He doesn’t blame Trump for the virus, but he does cite Trump’s response to that crisis as the reason for concern and Trump’s unwillingness to acknowledge the problem means to people. It is that same reaction for many issues Trump faces — a failure to see the human cost of the issues at hand. It’s the repeated responses to the crises — the chaos, the rage, the intentional divisiveness — that is the overarching problem. Woodward takes the reader through his reporting process as he interviews the President. Out of abiding concern about the pandemic and it’s cost to the people, Woodward tries to truly uncover Trump’s thinking, which he comes back to again and again over the course of several interviews with the President. Yet in the end, Trump largely misses the point, much to Woodward’s profound concern and bewilderment. After all his interviews and all his reflection about what it means, Woodward reaches one inescapable conclusion which he writes as the last words of this eye-popping book, “When his performance as president is taken in its entirely, I can only reach one conclusion. Trump is the wrong man for the job.”

I always thought that Trump had surrounded himself with mediocre “advisors,”, that he didn’t know the difference and/or the intellectual gurus would be banished. Not so. The more I read about Matt Pottinger, he could have been our hero if Trump would have listened to him from the beginning. Mr. Pottinger had been the Deputy National Security Advisor for three years. He had lived in China for seven years, and was formerly a Wall Street Journal reporter. He is a China scholar and speaks Mandarin enabling him to communicate directly. Apparently, he alerted Trump that China concealed the outbreak for three months. Therefore, we had an in-house expert who alerted the President. In February, 2020, Trump contacted Bob Woodward at 9:00 pm to set up and begin what came to be seventeen interviews. The rest is history as is said, but when we have a President who would prefer to work with despots, our democracy becomes precarious. Woodward uses flashbacks and tells us about former advisors, like Rex Tillerson and General Mattis (Mad Dog). I found it interesting that both men at the beginning of their tenure agreed on a united front before presenting any advice or facts to the President. Dan Coats is quite interesting. I was not aware of his extreme religious fervor or the strong influence of his wife, Marsha Coats, who approved of her husband going to work for Trump. Not because she liked him or his egregious behavior, but that he says he is pro-life. As I was reading the book, I was startled that Trump actually understood the mammoth scale of this oncoming pandemic and how it could ravage the U.S. population. He chose to “play it down,” for what purpose I am still not sure. Did he think it would go away? Nothing vanished, as of this writing there are 190,000 dead and he, with his usual candor, lied and lied to the American people. It is hard to believe the nation is polarized about his re-election or the fact that he has our best interests at heart. He can still win; the Congressional Republicans apparently believe their best gamble for retaining their jobs is with him. It remains difficult for me to accept that Trump consented to be taped, on the record! Is he delusional? Woodward must have a talented, large staff. The editing is superb. Each chapter is just about the right length. It is slick and filled with facts that will become historic. As I think about this “masterpiece,” I found Rosenstein’s role confusing. I remain mystified about his supporters, who allow themselves to be targets for Covid 19, when they attend his rallies. The President, unmasked, is safely on a stage, elevated from the masses. They seem to have the opposite of rage, they are excited and apparently want more lies and deceit. They seem to be racist, anti-immigrant and love their tax breaks. Trump bragged that his affinity for dictators elicits more productive relationships that benefit himself, not the citizens of America. No kidding. Woodward emphasized that Trump was reluctant to propel the massive power of the federal government to eradicate Covid. It seemed to be our only safeguard.

Good read and chronicle a dark individual

After the volcanic tape recordings of the President released by Bob Woodward, his book “Rage” is kind of anti-climactic—nothing could compete with those tapes. Nevertheless, Woodward has given us his usual stellar reporting in book format. Each chapter is like a vignette covering his taped discussions with one or a few key figures in the Trump administration at a specific point in time, progressing chronologically and focusing mostly on the last twelve months to the date in August when he turned in his draft to his publisher. Reading the exact taped words is so much less affecting than hearing them in the President’s voice. But every chapter is filled with direct quotes. Woodward interviewed so many of the relevant people, and took that raw material and wrote it all into a coherent story which leads to his conclusion in the last sentence in the book: “Trump is the wrong man for the job.” As the book progresses through the chapters, Woodward is compelled more and more to give his interpretation and opinion: that he is deeply saddened by what Trump tells him; that there is no planning by anyone in the Trump administration, or even short range objectives, other than getting Trump re-elected; that Trump has no awareness of white privilege and black suffering; and that Trump writes off the Covid virus pandemic by claiming that there is nothing more he could do. Woodward is shocked that Jared Kushner informs him that to really understand Trump, he must refer to “Alice in Wonderland,” and says to himself, think about that for a moment! Woodward’s pain in dealing with Trump becomes more and more present on the pages as he approaches his final, one sentence conclusion. In the Epilogue, which is Woodward at his very best, reconciling all the facts and material he has accumulated, he gives the strongest possible case as to why, exactly, Trump is the wrong man for the job, and how fearful Woodward is for our country and its future. The book is pure Bob Woodward; it’s much more than just the first draft of history. It will stand the test of time as the highest quality analysis of what went so wrong under the Donald Trump administration.

What a great book. A very easy read. Just took less than a couple of days to read. Boy those interviews he gave told me everything I needed to know that he is not nor ever will be the right man for the job. Woodward taped all conversations with Trump approval, over 7 months. He wanted it recoded so there would be no fake reporting. So in Trumps own words you will or maybe not be shocked at what was all important to him and it sure wasnt the health and safety of our nation. He is the worst leader this country has ever had the misfortune of living through. I loved this book it was simple and to the point, and not a bashing of one party or the other. It was honest. It was scary and I can only hope there will a new president this Nov. He is definetly obsessed with trying to outdo past presidents accomplishments he didnt come up with the Make America Great Again slogan he stole it from Preident Reagan. He knows how to side step the real hard questions asked of him constantly changing the subject when he had no good or real answers to give, or just plain ignorant of the facts. I know how we all feel about politicians, but they are best suited for the job of president. As long as he keeps repeating that same old garbage day in and day out there are some who will believe him but that doesnt say much about him or them. Trump has only been in this for financial gain. And I think when he is not reelected he will sneak out of town pockets filled with so much money we hopefully will never hear from him again. Well i can dream cant I.

I read “Fear” when it came it out, it was a difficult read of jagged trains of thought. But I stuck with it and made it through. So on the reputation of Woodward's reporting and the fact we now more about the subject I ordered “Rage”. It turn out to be a good decision, the book follows a logical progression of the subject and the “Rage” he has brought upon this country. In the beginning, he goes through the Trump Administraton who charted their course with their new Cabinet hires, like Rex Harrison, General Mattis and Senator Dan Coates from beginning of their employment to their farewell. He takes you through how they thought they could out master the “Con Man” and “Stay the course” Pence, and Trump who was flying high with the Republicans in House and Senate. Then darkness falls, the Coronavirus is reported in China and is showing up in the Presidential brief, which we hear in the Woodward's recorded interviews with Trump. Woodward gives us a retelling of those interviews, with some observations from Woodward and others intertwined with the transcripts. Woodward then moves in on people closer to Trump, like Jared Kushner, highlighting his actions and thoughts in and around the time of the virus. Kushner explains how he sees Trump very clearly and somehow seems to conclude that he's brilliant, while at the same time saying that to understand Trump one of the books you need to read is Alice in Wonderland. Woodward gives Kushner some good marks for competency in some of the actions he's taken on the coronavirus, such as the “Task Force” and Dr Fauci. But Kushner and Trump show their callousness with the death toll and those that have fallen ill from covid, all this leaves with you one thing people have been left on their own. As the book moves on Woodward pushes Trump for specifics on how he will respond to the virus as it spreads throughout the country, but Trump falls back in to his old pattern of not actually answering questions, and instead deflects with grievances or repeated re-telling of what he views as his successes. This the same thing he repeats now at his rallies, over and over again. “The economy was going great, then the China plague came in” oh its so unfair. He repeats and repeats the same thing over and over again. He has done nothing about Covid and people are dying, the third wave is beginning to peak in the key states that he needs to win. But he keeps yelling about opening up, and his supporters yell yea. What they don't see they were Con, and they will die with the Con, because the Trump doesn't do work he just worries about what's in it for him and making money and tweeting and being important, that's it. This where Woodward takes you, the end is near for Trump but hasn't been written yet, Trump keeps asking Trump get back to me when you write that third book, really? I thoroughly enjoyed “Rage” I learned things and read things that have not been covered in the press and you also get more of the backstory.

I expected this to cover all of Trumps mishandling of covid19 but the book does not begin to cover this until about 35% into the book and then ends with 105 days left of his presidency. The author makes it clear he has a due date for the book and well that's that. If I were one of the most well known authors of this and any generation I would have asked for an extension. There is so much more story to tell, as in we were in the middle of I hope the worst medical and financial crisis of our time! I feel even the author struggles with his epilog in trying to wrap things up when he really can't. There was so much more story needed to tell. I would recommend this book for its interesting interviews with Trump but I would not recommend it for its coverage of the health crisis. (B/D-)

Author Bob Woodward draws on detailed first-hand accounts among a myriad of participants in the administration and those closely connected to it. Some of the key figures, often from Republican or non-partisan backgrounds, went into service with a sense of duty to the country and a plan to do their jobs in its best interests, only to find themselves undermined by the chaos of the presidency. Trump comes off as a complex figure - in comparison to other pieces, particularly the op-eds - at once obsessed with his persona and optimistic projections, on occasion listening to wise counsel, as when he closed the country, but also ambivalent, denialist and stubborn. Even his friends, or allies, had a better idea of the country's needs and made a determined effort to push Trump in the right direction, at least those featured in the book, but Trump's attitude was unwavering. In the background, the chaotic effects of his presidency are unfolding - the separation of children from families at the border; Trump's trade war; the disruption of norms; the Coronavirus tragedy. In the end, Trump's obsessions consume him. No matter how many people die, how cities descend into chaos after the George Floyd incident, Trump thinks about his poll numbers and reelection. The frustration of Woodward seeps through the pages. He gives him every chance to evaluate the country's situation appropriately and outline a judicious response - Trump deflects, prevaricates. Trump will always be Trump. If anyone gave Trump the chance to portray himself in a positive light without the author's bending the truth, Woodward did. Trump squandered each and every opportunity and repeated his narcissistic rants.

It's a wonderful book.Very well written.It's worth buiying.I really enjoyed reading it.'Neurotic Jews arou nd'.Congratulations Mr.Woodeward!

Old one. Dirty print.

Buen libro

If you didn't know this was all real, you'd swear this was a political thriller. Definitely an eye opener.