by Ben Rhodes
First published 2018
Ben Rhodes was a 29-year-old writer and Washington outsider when Barack Obama chose him to help shape America's voice and vision. For nearly a decade, Rhodes worked at the center of the Obama Administration, starting as a speechwriter and evolving into a policymaker and trusted collaborator. He attended Obama's daily briefings each morning, waited in the Situation Room during the bin Laden raid, and led secret negotiations with Cuba. Rhodes helped craft nuclear agreements with Iran and watched nationalism rise toward Donald Trump's election. This memoir places readers inside the White House during the most critical moments of recent history. Rhodes reveals how idealism confronts reality in the corridors of power, how the presidency actually functions, and what it means to write words that reshape the world. The book captures both the partnership between two men making global decisions and the personal friendship that developed between a historic president and his young aide.
Genres: history, political-science, memoir, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, current-affairs, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: insider-perspective, personal-friendship
Setting: Cuba, Iran, United States, Washington DC, White House
Period: 21st Century
428 pages · Kindle Edition · Vintage Digital