A few thoughts on Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward

Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward

I read Bob Woodward’s book Fear: Trump in the White House. Lots of thoughts. But I’ll just put a few brief observations here to start.

First, you should read it. A book does so much more justice to history than tweets, news stories, commentator hot takes, and social media rants. Do yourself a favor, and take the time to read the book.

Second, I didn’t pick up “fear” as a very good theme for the book. “Unhinged,” or “Liar,” or “Unprecedented,” or “Wowsahs” all might be better titles. But “fear” just didn’t seem to fit. I’m not saying that Trump hasn’t used fear at any point to get what he wants or that it isn’t a theme in his administration–nor am I say that it is–just that Woodward doesn’t really seem to draw that theme so much as drop it in at a couple random points. (But then, “Liar” might have provoked a lawsuit for slander, and if we’re all about selling books, “Fear” on a red goes better, right? Good thing we’re not judging books by their cover…)

Third: there are both heroes and villains in this story. And that’s just inside the White House. Unfortunately, the heroes can’t consistently manage, and the President seems to lack an internal compass. Enter the villains…

And last: As one friend pointed out (at book club, and you know who you are), he finished reading the book and, oddly, his opinion of Trump actually went up. I don’t know if that’s because his opinion was so low before that it could only increase, or if Trump really is better than we give him credit…nah, it’s not that. But it made me think about how complex the modern White House is and the difficulty of governing in the polarized environment of constant media scrutiny. Sure, Trump is largely where he is because of that situation, but he’s also an ongoing victim of it.

Or maybe we are victims of it?

It’s a republic if we can keep it, and 24-hour news consumption is not helping us keep it. Go read a book. This one, even.

Bonus thought: the Democrats are not helping themselves. They’re ensuring that Trump wins reelection, transforms the judiciary, and remakes foreign policy in a way no one has been able to do in a decade. All is not lost, nor is it all bad news.