First published 2023
President Joe Biden enters the Oval Office in January 2021 facing challenges not seen since Franklin Roosevelt's era. A deadly pandemic rages across America. The economy crashes. A twenty-year war remains unfinished. The Capitol attack has torn the country apart. Chris Whipple secured unprecedented access to Biden and his inner circle during the administration's first two turbulent years. He reveals the power struggles within the West Wing and the compromises made behind closed doors. Whipple interviewed Chief of Staff Ron Klain, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and CIA Director William Burns. The book exposes how renegade Trump officials handled the power transfer. It identifies which staffers truly run the White House operations. Readers learn why Biden changed how he speaks around his security team. The author reveals Biden's private thoughts about Vice President Kamala Harris, the media, and his life in the executive mansion. Whipple chronicles how the administration navigated Supreme Court controversies, rising inflation, and Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Genres: history, political-science, politics, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, current-affairs, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: insider-perspective, political-drama
Setting: Oval Office, White House, America, Ukraine
Period: January 2021, Trump Administration
416 pages · Kindle Edition · Scribner