Potus Geeks Book Review: The Fight of His Life-Inside Joe Biden's White House by Chris Whipple
Author and journalist Chris Whipple draws upon his amazing array of sources, including the present and many of the past White House Chiefs of Staff, to take the reader inside the current workings of the West Wing and Oval Office in his 2023 book The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden's White House. Many of these sources were gathered for Whipple's earlier book, The Gatekeepers, about the Presidents' Chiefs of Staff, and the knowledge he has obtained from his previous research helps to provide considerable insight into the current administration's operations as President Joe Biden endeavors to lead the nation during one of the most polarizing times in the nation's history.
Whipple looks at Biden Presidency from the time that the former Vice-President made the decision to seek the big chair (following President Donald Trump's puzzling remarks about how there were "good people on both sides" of the Charlottesville white supremacy demonstrations) all the way up to the recent mid-term elections. His accounting is supplemented by considerable access to the principle players in the administration, including the President himself, as well as the Vice-President, the President's Chief of Staff, his Secretary of State, his Director of National Intelligence, and many of the other power players in Washington.
What a roller coaster of a presidency it has been, just past the half-way mark, and Whipple looks at all of the major events: the Capitol riots, the rapid and numerous executive orders signed by Biden in the first days of his presidency, the Covid pandemic response, the American Rescue Act of 2021, the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, and most notably the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He also examines Biden's failures to pass the "Build Back Better" Act (compromising on the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022) and his proposed voting rights legislation, as well as the events leading up to the recent mid-term elections.
The tone of the book suggests that Whipple is a fan of the 46th President, but he also does not shy away from criticism of his subject at times, especially in regard to the aftermath of the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan (referring to it as "Biden's Bay of Pigs.") He is also quite candid in telling tales about the President's lack of confidence in Vice-President Kamala Harris (Whipple quotes Biden as referring to Harris as a "work in progress") and he is also critical of the dysfunction that appears to exist within the Vice-President's staff. (He notes how Harris refused to answer him when he questioned her about the allegations that her staff was unhappy and about complaints concerning the Vice-President's mistreatment of her staff.) Whipple also discusses the underlying resentment that former President Barack Obama has concerning the boasting by the Biden administration about its accomplishments, and their underlying implications that tend to diminish what the 44th President was able to accomplish. In summary, much of this book praises Biden, but it is not a puff piece that shies away from shining a light of some of the President's mistakes.
It is extremely difficult to find an objective accounting of a current administration, and while Whipple's close-up of the Biden White House has its own biases, they are not so predominant as to take away from making this an interesting read. My one criticism is Whipple's failure to question the massive spending programs of the Biden administration and the inflation that flows from them. He does not discuss Biden's attachment of modern monetary theory (MMT) or how this will affect future generations. While some of Biden's critics question Biden's ability to serve as president at his age (one former chief of staff sees this as a major problem) Whipple does not really delve into this issue either. Perhaps too many tough questions might have shut down the author's exceptional access, without which so much of interesting material in this book might have never come to light.
Whipple looks at Biden Presidency from the time that the former Vice-President made the decision to seek the big chair (following President Donald Trump's puzzling remarks about how there were "good people on both sides" of the Charlottesville white supremacy demonstrations) all the way up to the recent mid-term elections. His accounting is supplemented by considerable access to the principle players in the administration, including the President himself, as well as the Vice-President, the President's Chief of Staff, his Secretary of State, his Director of National Intelligence, and many of the other power players in Washington.
What a roller coaster of a presidency it has been, just past the half-way mark, and Whipple looks at all of the major events: the Capitol riots, the rapid and numerous executive orders signed by Biden in the first days of his presidency, the Covid pandemic response, the American Rescue Act of 2021, the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, and most notably the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He also examines Biden's failures to pass the "Build Back Better" Act (compromising on the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022) and his proposed voting rights legislation, as well as the events leading up to the recent mid-term elections.
The tone of the book suggests that Whipple is a fan of the 46th President, but he also does not shy away from criticism of his subject at times, especially in regard to the aftermath of the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan (referring to it as "Biden's Bay of Pigs.") He is also quite candid in telling tales about the President's lack of confidence in Vice-President Kamala Harris (Whipple quotes Biden as referring to Harris as a "work in progress") and he is also critical of the dysfunction that appears to exist within the Vice-President's staff. (He notes how Harris refused to answer him when he questioned her about the allegations that her staff was unhappy and about complaints concerning the Vice-President's mistreatment of her staff.) Whipple also discusses the underlying resentment that former President Barack Obama has concerning the boasting by the Biden administration about its accomplishments, and their underlying implications that tend to diminish what the 44th President was able to accomplish. In summary, much of this book praises Biden, but it is not a puff piece that shies away from shining a light of some of the President's mistakes.
It is extremely difficult to find an objective accounting of a current administration, and while Whipple's close-up of the Biden White House has its own biases, they are not so predominant as to take away from making this an interesting read. My one criticism is Whipple's failure to question the massive spending programs of the Biden administration and the inflation that flows from them. He does not discuss Biden's attachment of modern monetary theory (MMT) or how this will affect future generations. While some of Biden's critics question Biden's ability to serve as president at his age (one former chief of staff sees this as a major problem) Whipple does not really delve into this issue either. Perhaps too many tough questions might have shut down the author's exceptional access, without which so much of interesting material in this book might have never come to light.