Rage in Anchorage Public Library

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Jan 19, 2021 Ben rated it it was amazing

I knew about Bob Woodward, having watched All the President's Men and read about Watergate. But I was not aware of his career interviewing and writing books about each president since that time frame, four during the Bush administration!

He had previously written "Fear", around the 2016 election and Trump presidency.

I was driven to find this book by the 2020 election and the subsequent actions of President Trump. In my eye there was no way to support the president and yet there were many who wou I knew about Bob Woodward, having watched All the President's Men and read about Watergate. But I was not aware of his career interviewing and writing books about each president since that time frame, four during the Bush administration!

He had previously written "Fear", around the 2016 election and Trump presidency.

I was driven to find this book by the 2020 election and the subsequent actions of President Trump. In my eye there was no way to support the president and yet there were many who would not abandon his claims of fraud and wrongdoing by the left to keep him out of a second term of office. Woodward does not address these issues, as they had not yet occurred. Even so, this is the book I needed.

The book is centrally about Trump, but it opens focusing mostly on those around him. Through the experiences of advisors, cabinet members, and other government employees, as well as Mr. Woodward's direct interviews with the President, we learn what Trump is like as President. How he makes decisions, and executes on those decisions. I have never highlighted a book as often as I highlighted Rage. Trump was the worst example of a political outsider to gain access to the most powerful seat in American Politics. I wish when an outsider got in there it had been someone less unhinged... Trump appears to say and do what he wants, based on an internal monologue, and has little empathy or ability to perceive a situation for another point of view.

His danger as President has hopefully past, but he leaves a dark legacy. His attacks on the institution of the presidency and other core principles and institutions that our democratic republic are based on and rely on will hopefully be repaired over time. However, I am concerned that hateful rhetoric and a lack of desire to understand each other will lead in the opposite direction. Social media was his favorite way to communicate, and it is leading all of us to post in a way to 'mic drop' on disagreement rather than discourse with fellow Americans you generally share so much with, but disagree with about certain issues.

That is what I am left with after reading this book. Mr. Trump was a terrible selection for the job, and whoever comes next has a huge job to try to unite us - and each of us needs to do their job to unite and not divide.
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Oct 13, 2020 Tim Taber rated it really liked it

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Sep 25, 2022 Kathleen marked it as non-fiction-want-to-read

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