Fear bob woodward torrent download

Perhaps I would have been willing to suffer through all these things if there were a lot of new information in here. There is not. Ninety-five percent of the facts in here come straight from the pages of our daily newspapers while maybe five percent is new information—information that was teased to us and put in every article about this book.

Sometimes in Hollywood they put all the good stuff in the trailer. Same thing here. If Woodward was able to put the Trump presidency and all its horror into some kind of historical or political context that has not been reported before--bring his wisdom to bear--that might have made the book worthwhile. Unfortunately, Woodward offers no lessons, just rehashes information and news.

Spend your time and money on a Washington Post subscription. Most worthwhile breaking news ends up there anyway. View all 23 comments. Mar 08, Lyn rated it liked it. The ghost of Richard Nixon prowls the halls of the White House and pauses in front of the portrait of Kennedy. Got nothing to do with it? He talked to Trump aides and people in the administration? Well sure he did, and focused on the all the bad.

But Jack, what about all the good? What about the fresh new ideas and the inspirations? Trump is verbally abusive and condescending? You know full well what that means! We had the goddamn Soviets to contend with and Trump has that little Korean guy. Oh, well, sure, responsible government is too, sure it is. Hope and inspiration?

I mean, you were my opponent, but not my enemy, there was respect. Good evening, general, but you know what I mean. Well maybe. Consider this Jack, if you took dollars and converted them to seconds of time, a million would be about eleven days whereas a billion is like thirty YEARS??

I know, right? You may be right about that. Does not sound presidential! Jameson or Tullamore Dew? Stay on track, Kennedy! View all 6 comments. Sep 12, Darwin8u rated it liked it Shelves: , biography , nonfiction , american. While I think some of the information gleaned by Woodward for this book is worth the proximity porn, I still don't like his style. I'm also not a fan of the actual writing of this book. It doesn't flow. Does it convince me more that Trump is a danger, an idiot, self-absorbed, reckless, without a moral compass, lack Since All the President's Men there really hasn't been a Woodward book I've enjoyed.

Does it convince me more that Trump is a danger, an idiot, self-absorbed, reckless, without a moral compass, lacking empathy, compassion, loyalty, etc.? There are some nice quotes from various Trump-enablers calling Trump various versions of dumb, but still, not anything new.

We've caught glimpes and shadows of this already see Comey's book, see the Wolff book, etc. Anyway, I'll write more later, but I'm done with Trump for the night. View all 19 comments. Sep 14, Michael Perkins rated it it was ok. Never forget Quite the opposite. But this story is better suited as a Philip K. Dick novel come to life, that would truly capture the insanity of what's happening.

I have written some of that story below. But first a word about the puzzling Woodward book. A missed Never forget A missed opportunity This book is a failure. Woodward introduces each subject as if it's new to the reader, when it's yesterday's news. I did not learn a thing from that part of the book.

And it reads like an extended Wikipedia article in the same bland style. There was some interesting material in the beginning, much of which has already been used to promote the book in newspaper articles. But it did stimulate my thinking about what kind of book should be written about Trump. See link below. Trump has lived in a make-believe world his whole life. Then one day, in our PKD novel, the earth tilts on its axis and this nasty fellow, aka Agent Orange, steps out of his pixilated simulation into the material world.

What happened? How did he get here? But to his delight, he discovers he has real power, in fact he is the most powerful person in the world. He can do whatever he wants. Hire people on the spot, regardless of qualifications, and fire people on whim if he happens to be in a bad mood. He was the C student who always figured life was only about making money. His dad taught him that. He has no use for eggheads or research. The main thing is to be decisive, to act. And to lie as much as necessary to get what you want.

The world is his game board, he must move the pieces as he sees fit. Now is his chance. He wants to do a raid in Yemen. At dawn on a Sunday morning, the raid goes into action. But, sadly, it does not go as planned. During a minute firefight one SEAL is killed, three wounded. Civilians, including children, die. But telling the truth is out of question because his widow is devastated. Everything in this world happens for a reason, so his death must have purpose. So, Agent Orange recognizes him in Congress and calls him a hero.

Everyone stands and claps. The widow cries. Her life is changed forever. She should still have her husband. But at least she has a medal and a flag. A worried staff member brings in the president of a famous bank to try to educate the dear leader.

His ignorance is shocking. He expresses surprise when the banker tells him that tech is costing jobs and will likely cost more in the near future. He better have a plan. Agent Orange is alarmed and confused. Sorry, no, the banker tells him, it will never happen. But Agent Orange promised the people. He travels to North Korea to meet a leader he admires, because he has complete control over the country and has military parades. In advance, he has a movie produced about their future partnership that looks as if it were created by the Church of Scientology.

The photo op in North Korea seems to go well. Agent Orange comes back and his fans hail his negotiating skills. But soon spy satellites show that North Korea has accelerated their nuclear development. Agent Orange is shocked. He orders a missile strike. One of this ramrod straight generals is stunned. He runs to meet with a notorious right wing, militarist Senator to come meet with Agent Orange to convince him to rescind the order. He wants to give him an alternative to pushing the button.

He takes a page out of the old Kissinger playbook about working through China. Orange thinks this would work because he believes China loves him. The system would help protect South Korea from a North Korea missile attack. You know, like how we protect Israel? More crucially, it could be used to help protect the United States. But we pay for the system, the installation and the operations. This is a terrible deal. Put it in Portland, OR.

Syria is another thorn in his side. These complicated situations really frustrate Orange. Diplomacy and tactics are a pain in the ass. Always look for the simple solution, his dad always told him. He orders the covert assassination of Assad. Again his staff has to scramble to talk Orange off the ledge. But this is his way: playing by ear, acting on impulse. This worked in the casino business, although he did go bankrupt a few times. The evangelicals are particularly excited about the Court.

This reviewer, who knows the Bible backwards and forwards, can attest to that. They simply listen to their pastors who freely mix politics and faith.

Not our problem. We just want to save the babies. Besides we want to go back to the Christian nation America once was, just like the Founders, who were mostly evangelical, wanted. The Framers, as they are more properly called, were Enlightenment Deists who did not believe in a personal God. They also instituted a strict separation between Church and State because they saw what a disaster it was in Europe when they were mixed.

Agent Orange is emotionally overwrought, mercurial and unpredictable. Members of his ever-changing staff have to scramble to block his most dangerous impulses. The executive office is having a nervous breakdown in front of the whole world and Russia, North Korea and other enemies are only too ready to exploit it and feed the chaos through cyber-attacks.

But Agent Orange still admires their leaders. If only he could muzzle the media the way they can. This is more than they could have expected. The police have the black population under control and more of those predators are in jail. And gun rights are no longer threatened, we can take them anywhere we want, including to church and on to college campuses. We are more than ready to shoot the bad guys when they show themselves.

But we made him out to be the most important person in the world. It was like making the court jester the king. We saw a crumbling empire at every turn. Our job was to make it seem otherwise. View all 18 comments. Sep 11, Michael Burnam-Fink rated it it was amazing Shelves: politics , non-fiction.

Fear is the establishment's answer to Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury. Where Wolff is a gossip rag arsonist who relied heavily on Steve Bannon's version of events, Bob Woodward is, well, he's Woodward. He took down Nixon and has written books on every subsequent president. Fear relies on hundreds of hours of transcribed interviews on deep background, and reading between the lines its easy to huess his sources are mostly "responsible adults" who have left the administration: Priebus, Porter, Cohn, Fear is the establishment's answer to Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury.

Fear relies on hundreds of hours of transcribed interviews on deep background, and reading between the lines its easy to huess his sources are mostly "responsible adults" who have left the administration: Priebus, Porter, Cohn, Tillerson, Dowd, and Senator Lindsey Graham.

The picture he paints of Trump is less salacious, but no less damning. According to these men, who were once close to Trump and who have fallen from grace, the president is an idiot, a rage-filled child, a reckless gambler, a lazy slob addicted to cable news, a bullying narcissist, and an inveterate liar.

If there is any fixed star in Trump's universe, it's that if you're not screwing someone, you're being screwed. Woodward covers the first year or so of Trump's presidency, focusing on the intrigue around the oval office, and the seesawing attempts to find a strategy on Afghanistan, North Korea, and trade. The results are either wise men restraining the worst impulses of a mad king, or an administrative coup by the Deep State, depending on how you feel.

The book opens with Gary Cohn stealing a memo off Trump's desk to prevent him from blowing up a vital US-Korea trade agreement, which is probably the most dramatic example, but again and again, his aides have to reign in Trump's emotionally driven decisions, ranging from declaring victory in Afghanistan and turning it over to Erik Prince and the mercenary army formerly known as Blackwater, starting a nuclear war with North Korea, or demolishing the post consensus on free trade, no matter the cost.

Of course, these men are not some Obama-holdover Deep State. They're men Trump appointed, praised, and mostly refused to fire. Despite that idiotic anonymous op-ed in the New York Times , they are not the resistance inside the administration. They are Trump's instruments, and his dishonor stains them. The revolving door outside the Oval Office is interesting, but Woodward doesn't have much to say about the things that really matter about Trump. How much racism comes from him, and how much from ethnonationalist ghouls like Steve Bannon, Sebastian Gorka, and Stephen Miller?

The Mueller investigation drives Trump crazy, but is there fire beneath all the smoke? What of the real harms that dismantling the 'administrative state' of EPA regulations, educational standards, and SNAP assistance brings? What about the judges? How about the dead of Hurricane Maria?

The utter nonsense spewed at ongoing campaign rallies? What is up with Jared Kushner? Is there, contrary to all the evidence, any actual depth to the man? The only humanizing touch is that Trump refuses to meet with the families of soldiers killed in his military adventures.

I can understand that moral cowardice. I'm not sure how any ostensible patriot can square that cowardice with their support of the man. Woodward's book doesn't reveal any deep truths. We all knew Trump was incompetent, incapable of empathy or foresight, the meanest creature to ever occupy the White House. What it does reveal, in chilling clinical detail, is how bad the situation really is.

View all 5 comments. Sep 30, Jill added it. I'm not finished. I'm coming back to it. But for the moment, I hate this narcissistic sociopath so much that it's actually causing me anxiety to read about him.

Hopefully, when he's fitted for his orange suit, this will be easier reading. Anyone who has seen Trump in action should not be surprised by many of the horrifying revelations in this book. What is absolutely shocking, however, is the fact that his behavior is common knowledge among those in power in D. Yet they allow the biggest national security threat we face to continue to occupy the Oval Office, which violates their oaths to defend and uphold the Constitution. After reading this book, I did not see any evidence that Bob Woodward believes there is a better version of Trump within the realm of possibility.

I was impressed with his objectivity, as he simply recounts interactions meetings on a wide variety of topics with many high level officials. My take, the theme that runs through almost every section of the book, is that Trump is mentally unstable, volatile, erratic, petty, chronically dishonest, and not very bright -- unless you like idiot savants who manipulate and use other people to personal advantage.

Woodward just lays it out there for the reader without interjecting himself into the mix. I have no doubt that everything that Woodward has set to print is verifiable fact. For those that doubt the truth, he has a simple answer: audio tapes of hundreds of hours of interviews with his sources. If you want proof you can understand, turn on the TV, pick a channel, any channel, and watch Trump in action. Unfortunately, I also have no doubt that there are people who, no matter the proof, will bury their heads in the sand and cry conspiracy.

I have read "Fear" not for new information, but out of interest in how this might influence the most important election of my life. Woodward is credible, and I know that there are Americans who will read this book and will pause. Midterms are looming Read this book no matter what you have read about this book! View 2 comments. Another audio I started eons ago, but at that time I had read Fire and Fury and another about the same subject.

Frankly, I was sick of reading about him at that time, still am, but in my efforts to clear my audible shelves, I started over with a grin and bear it attitude.

Not that there's anything wrong with it, the narrator was good and Woodward a respected journalist. It was well presented, but anyone who reads the news or watches it knows almost everything inside. Since I have been fearful si Another audio I started eons ago, but at that time I had read Fire and Fury and another about the same subject.

Since I have been fearful since the start of his reign, this did not elicit much more fear than that which I already had. Just a relief to finally finish, and this is the last book that I intend to waste my time with concerning this subject. View all 15 comments. Nov 10, Ian "Marvin" Graye rated it really liked it Shelves: cul-poli-phil-art , read , reviews , reviewsstars , woodward.

That said, there's a sentence that is repeated several times throughout the book, as if it might represent the common judgment of Trump's staff and advisers on his character. The only problem is that nobody in the White House seems to have had the courage to say it to his face.

The sentence is this: "You're a fucking liar. They were an excuse for not analysing issues or considering and taking advice. His decision-making capacity is illusory. Woodward indicates that Trump's greatest priority was for his staff to put something in front of him that he could sign, whether or not it had any substantive or performative effect.

If nothing else, "Fear" strips way Trump's pretences and reveals just how little comprehension, insight and intuition he had. Woodward undermines Trump's manufactured cult of personality, at least with those outside his base. Trump was bankrupted at least six times i. He exaggerated and lied about the extent of his wealth and the profitability of his assets, like a crooked fund manager misrepresenting the performance of his funds.

He cheated on his wives, his taxes, and his golf. Nothing was beneath him. He frequently declined to pay contractors. He rarely repaid banks and creditors. He even refused to pay lawyers he used to bully, intimidate and defeat women and men who made claims against him. Litigation, too, was just another business strategy. Only it was conducted in bad faith. Nobody wanted his legal work, no matter how lucrative it might be, because you couldn't be certain you would be paid. Is it any wonder that he complained, "I can't find a good lawyer.

He embraced the chaos and churn beneath him Teenage logic was necessary. Reince Priebus, Trump's chief of staff, refers to the other senior staff as "roving interlopers, a band of chaos creators. Gary Cohn, a former president of Goldman Sachs and the president's top economic adviser, says: "It's not what we did for the country. It's what we saved him from doing. Any disloyalty would undermine his perceived strength. It would compromise his ability to defeat his opponents. He viewed real power as the ability to engender fear hence, the title of the book.

His only methodology for realising the art of the deal was to terrify his opponents out of their rights, entitlements and expectations. According to Priebus, Trump's primary defence mechanism was to "maximise aggression to conceal vital weakness.

His strategy was to lie, deny, deflect. He used the same strategy to avoid accountability and punishment. You've got to be aggressive. You've got to push back hard. You've got to deny anything that's said about you. Never admit. He could read a situation. Or the room. Or the moment Too much advance preparation would diminish his skills in improvising.

He did not want to be derailed by forethought. As if a plan would take away his power, his sixth sense. He was ambivalent when Twitter doubled the number of permissible characters from to "It's a good thing [now he could flesh out his thoughts and add more depth], but it's a bit of a shame because I was the Ernest Hemingway of characters. On the one hand, it means that the conflict or rivalry between two wrestlers is supposed to be perceived as real. On the other hand, it is supposed to imply that wrestling as a whole is real and not simply staged.

Whether or not this hypothesis is correct, the word might be helpful in analysing the political environment within which Trump works. Many commentators and politicians have become concerned about the level of polarisation that has occurred since Trump announced his original candidacy.

Politics has been split into a battle between good and evil, your opponent is demonized, to such an extent that violence seems to have become a legitimate response to what was once a war of words. The audience is supposed to suspend ignore or avoid any disbelief. It doesn't matter that the action on stage is scripted, or even that the audience knows. It's the fact that, nevertheless, the audience believes it to be real or true. It is real or true, if we pretend that it's real or true.

The conflicts that occur on stage are supposed to be real, even though they're wholly staged, fabricated and fictional. Equally, the audience is supposed to continue the conflict off-stage, by way of identification with one character or wrestler, so that they act out the conflict in their own real world.

Republicans, conservatives, the Right and Trumpists are the good guys, while Democrats, liberals, progressives, socialists, anarchists, agitators, the Left and the antifa are the bad guys. So Trump acts like a pied piper, a dog-whistle blower, a puppet-master, pulling the strings, while those in his base perform their role as witting or unwitting puppets, pretending that it's real.

Things just can't go on like before, but Can we still be friends? Let's admit we made a mistake, but Can we still be friends? Heartbreak's never easy to take, but Can we still be friends? It's a strange sad affair Sometimes seems like we just don't care Don't waste time feeling hurt We've been through hell together. We never had a fling, I never felt a thing.

Donald, let's pretend I never loved you best. I don't say this in jest. Though this isn't a test, You're just like all the rest. Donald, let's pretend We all know you're clever, Right can rule forever, If we just close our eyes, It might even come true. How the hell did we even elect someone like this into office. Are Americans really so stupid to believe in a snake oil salesman like Trump? Were they just so opposed to the status quo that they were willing to not only rock the boat, but potentially blow the whole motherfucker up in order to be heard?

Was he simply the lesser of two evils? As soon as Trump threw his name in the ring I told my husband he never planned on winning. I will stand by that statement until the day I die. Running for President was simply a marketing ploy for Trump. He wanted to revamp his brand and there was no bigger platform in which to do so. His appearances proved it — wheeling steaks, water, etc.

What I want to know is at what point things changed and he decided he wanted the big prize. I never believed the polls — partly because until a few months ago I still had a landline which received It appears at least some of the powers that be felt the same — requesting donation money be diverted to Republican Senate campaigns generically and away from Trump.

But at some point I think Trump began drinking his own Kool-Aid. I will never believe that on election night he expected to lose. What I do think is he had no idea how government operates or what was ahead.

Sep 05, Jim rated it it was amazing Shelves: author-north-american , 21st-century. View all 7 comments. This was extremely readable. I listened to this on audio yesterday. It was interesting enough to hold my interest all day. I briefly paused, started a new book I also like but in the end returned to listening to this and finished it. This isn't my first book on the Election, chump's campaign or presidency.

Most of the This was extremely readable. Most of the previously mentioned books have also doubled as biographies for the authors, with the exception of Fire and Fury. They have been packed full of info about the author I could give zero fucks about and mostly unsubstantiated gossip about the candidate.

I give the most credibility to Donna Brazile who I think told a more narrow and focused tale. I don't think HRC lied and am not trying to imply that. Her book was about her and not really the campaign as a whole. This book for me gives the most complete picture of the chump Whitehouse.

Instead we are taken through events that are thoroughly explained with participants that we are familiar with. The dysfunction of the white house isn't offered as shocking. It's offered as business as usual. I don't know what to say. I'm not shocked. Chumps antics have made us all jaded. Actions that I once would've found unbelievable became common place long before chump formally took office.

I think the world has normalized so many bizarre and embarassing presidential behaviors we've lost the ability to respond appropriately. It's just too much. So we have the now standard image of the president being managed by his staff. Priebus stealing documents off the Resolute Desk in hopes that chump will forget. It works too.

I want to point out that this is how my husband and I handle our toddler grand kids. When they aren't looking we take away obnoxious toys, hide them and hope they forget. That this strategy is successful with the president is humorous and horrifying in equal measures.

What stuck with me was members of his cabinet needing to every single day explain the exact same facts to this man. Only for him to ignore or refuse to look at the facts. His stubborn misunderstanding that the US is a service economy and manufacturing jobs aren't desired by the US workers.

He truly is unable to understand diplomacy. That's frightening. The book goes over how his personal or perceived personal relationships with other World Leaders impacts how he interacts with them. He is convinced President Xi of China likes him and is his friend.

He doesn't trust or believe his own advisors over other world leaders. Other world leaders know this and use this knowledge to manipulate him. He's not intelligent at all and doesn't trust the smart people in his own cabinet.

It's like a Mad TV skit. Some advisors try repeatedly to explain why trade agreements and military presence are interwined. Others just do business around him and without consulting him. It's a mess. He literally does not understand trade agreements or how our nation benefits from them. He dislikes the President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in and is extremely rude to him and even yells at him. He truly does not understand that the primary purpose of our military in South Korea is about the 7 second nuclear warning versus the 15 minutes later warning we can get from Alaska.

Why in the world should or would South Korea pay us for that privilege? He doesn't at all understand how business is even done in this country much less internationally.

He thinks the budget problems can be fixed by borrowing more money or just printing it. He has the understanding of a toddler. What this really brought home to me was how extremely corrupt the Republican Party is. They are just robbing the candy store and taking important papers off this foolish world leaders desk in hopes he'll forget.

They are managing him until they run out of patience or he gets mad at them for following the laws and established customs of the POTUS. He fires them for doing their jobs or they quit when they get exhausted from explaining the same thing over and over.

The author describes the repetitiveness of this process as 'groundhog day' like the movie with Bill Murray. Part of the problem is that chump believes he has the solution when he doesn't understand the question or issue. He stubbornly clings to his solution even in the face of facts to the contrary.

He is confused and has a bad memory so he just makes shit up as he goes along. He is unconcerned and unfamiliar with the truth. The very last line of the book is, "You're a fucking liar" in relation to chump. I tend to give this book more weight than the others I've read. Woodward is a serious and credible reporter. Still I think it'll be at least 25 years or more before we get the real scoop about this presidential shit show.

Sep 11, Faith rated it really liked it Shelves: audio , overdrive. Most of the interesting bits of this book have already been revealed in news stories. The book confirms that Trump is a dumb, ignorant, narcissistic, arrogant and mean liar. We already knew that, but his followers don't seem to care.

I doubt that this book will help much. When you populate each branch of the government with people who lack integrity, compassion and decency, the checks and balances system won't work. However, at least this author has better credentials and more credibility than o Most of the interesting bits of this book have already been revealed in news stories.

However, at least this author has better credentials and more credibility than others who have written about this chaotic presidency. His writing style is extremely dry. View all 4 comments. Sep 05, Nadine Jones rated it it was ok Shelves: non-fiction , narrative-nonfiction , rin , only-reading-because-of-the-buzz , politics-law-and-government.

Do you ever wonder if that's actually his goal? Maybe Trump is the Master of reverse psychology. Maybe he hates the Republican Party.

Maybe he was actually tired of the USA dominating the world stage and decided to bring it down by exploding from within What follows is that story. This book was a disappointment. Here's the short version: Gary Cohn and Lindsey Graham are Trump's top advisors, Rob Porter is great, Steve Bannon is a man of the people, and Trump is dangerously ignorant when it comes to economics and global relations.

There are so many ethical violations and concerns that I have that aren't even mentioned. This is comprehensive in an adulatory way, in a "all us guys are great and let me bend your ear" way. In a breezy, almost chatty, tone, he details the ongoing fall of our American empire It was very readable.

Woodward's Trump emerges as a well-meaning good guy who is just kind of clueless and acts without thinking. I was expecting a lot more insight and commentary than I got.

I'm kind of surprised Trump bothered to criticize this book so much it was his excessive criticism that inspired me to read it. Trump comes across like that archetypal befuddled, crass, lewd yet amusing old guy that shows up at family parties and delights in chaos, as not a bad guy but just sort of shooting from the hip.

I was left with the distinct impression that Woodward likes and admires Trump. He headed out. It was a dumb idea. I never wanted to do it. I was disappointed that Woodward implied several times that Trump was a complete neophyte to politics, and he never acknowledges Trump's candidacy in the Republican Presidental Primary.

That was Considering that a I'm reading this solely because Trump criticized the book so vociferously, and b multiple times Woodward acknowledges Trumps skill as a showman and his intuitive understanding of how to promote things, I now suspect that Trump WANTED us to read this book. Because Trump looks pretty good here. Yeah, we see him trying to print more money, but is that really so awful?

Sounds more like a childhood fantasy that many of us can understand. It's pretty clear who his sources were, not only because they have direct quotes, but also because they are portrayed entirely sympathetically: Reince Priebus, Rob Porter, Gary Cohn, and Lindsey Graham are all the stars.

Porter is such a star of this show, I'm guessing he must've handed Woodward his detailed daily journals; very little mention of his history of domestic abuse, I guess he didn't journal about that.

And what IS mentioned makes it clear that Woodward buys into Porter's claims of being falsely accused. By TWO ex-wives. Who have nothing to gain by it. Good one, Woodward. Way to get to the facts. And to go by this book, Graham is Trump's main right hand man that he turns to in every crisis, and Cohn is the brains of the entire operation that is, when Porter is not the brains.

Here is the entire section of the book discussing Porter's domestic abuse: Porter left the White House on February 7 after two ex-wives went public with allegations that he had physically abused them. One released a photo showing a black eye that she said Porter gave her. Each, one to the press and one in a blog post, gave graphic descriptions of domestic abuse. Porter quickly concluded it would be best for all—his former spouses, his family and close friends, the White House and himself—to resign.

He wanted to focus on repairing relationships and healing. I realize that this book is not about Porter. But considering he is mentioned by name a staggering times the only names that show up more often are "Bannon" and "Cohn" , I would expect more coverage of the abuse than just this brush-off.

According to Woodward, it doesn't matter that Trump admired an abuser, what matters is that Cohn lost his ally. Woodward does make it clear that Trump tends to fall apart under pressure, and he has no grasp of economics.

He may drive the entire USA to bankruptcy. Then what? It was scary. Many times he watched six to eight hours of television in a day. Think what your brain would be like if you did that? Bannon asked. Cohn thought that Trump had to know.

There are so many quotes here from Graham, he was clearly a source for Woodward. Does that explain the kid gloves? Trump's blatant violations of the emoluments clause has me fit to explode, and I don't understand why it's allowed to continue, nor do I understand why reporters like Woodward don't dig in on that one. Also, Woodward only appears to be even-handed, but he clearly works to present his sources in the best light, leading me to wonder if he's maybe more concerned with maintaining his connection to a source than he is with presenting all the unbiased facts.

For example: Priebus had his troubles with Bannon but Bannon had fallen in line and was 10 times the unifier that Jared and Ivanka were. Translation: Bannon and Priebus were good sources for this book, and Woodward worked hard to maintain that relationship, meanwhile Jared and Ivanka refused to talk to him. It's pretty clear that Woodward finds global issues fascinating, and domestic issues including Trump's sexual harassment history, general sexist attitude, and blatant racism to be completely uninteresting and barely worth mentioning.

A quick word count in my ebook makes this obvious. But I disagree with the focus, I think Trump's true and shameful legacy will be primarily domestic. On the global stage, he is laughed at. This isn't the book I hoped it would be. There are also some odd tangents which just felt like padding. In the middle of chapter 22, about escalating tensions with North Korea a subject which had already been discussed in detail in the Prologue, so I felt like I was rereading the same information , Woodward suddenly goes back in time to discuss - for pages!

Is this a book about the Trump Administration or a more expansive book about US history and current events? I skimmed over these tangents. The very last chapter comes back to the Mueller investigation and I'm frankly surprised by the amount of quoted dialogue Woodward has here , but it's inconclusive. Much like the Mueller investigation itself continues to be inconclusive, as of October The final paragraphs of the book: Some things were clear and many were not in such a complex, tangled investigation.

Dowd believed that the president had not colluded with Russia or obstructed justice. But in the man and his presidency Dowd had seen the tragic flaw.

This was comprehensive, but I didn't really learn anything new. There is sort of an odd note right up front, in an opening author's note, Woodward lavishes praise on his longtime assistant, Evelyn Duffy, concluding with: Evelyn brought her endless good sense and wisdom, serving as full collaborator and in the spirit—and with the level of effort—of a coauthor. And that left me wondering why she's NOT credited as co-author? DeVos - 0 Carson - 0 Graham - that's a lot of Graham! View all 12 comments.

Nov 11, Bookishrealm rated it really liked it Shelves: books-read-in , non-fiction , audiobook. I'm not really sure where to begin with this book. It's a solid 3. What makes it more intriguing is that readers have the opportunity to see a lot of the emotional responses to Trump's first couple of years as president. The emotional responses come from both Trump and his cabinet.

One of the most important connections that I made w I'm not really sure where to begin with this book. One of the most important connections that I made while reading this book is truly understanding the lack of knowledge that Trump had about anything in regard to American politics.

Trump to President Joseph R. Biden Jr. But as number one internationally best-selling author Bob Woodward and acclaimed reporter Robert Costa reveal for the first time, it was far more than just a domestic political crisis.

Woodward and Costa interviewed more than people at the center of the turmoil, resulting in more than 6, pages of transcripts - and a spellbinding and definitive portrait of a nation on the brink. This classic study of Washington takes listeners deep inside the Trump White House, the Biden White House, the campaign, and the Pentagon and Congress, with vivid, eyewitness accounts of what really happened.