The Gatekeepers by Chris Whipple ~Blogging For Books Review

Okay! I lied to you guys. I said that the last Blogging for Books post was going to be the last. Well, as you can see it’s not.

I just had to choose one last book to read and write a review on. I was a political science major in college and this book was just screaming my name.

It’s all about the chiefs of staff for presidents from Nixon to Trump. Well, the Trump chapter (as you may guess) is pretty short. It’s also all about how the chief of staff position in the White House is the most important role. Well, other than the role of president.

As the title suggests, the chief of staff is the gatekeeper. They advise the president and obviously run the staff in the White House.

I learned a lot reading this book. I also found it very interesting to read how each one basically ran the presidency. For one, I didn’t realize that some presidents went through at least 4 chiefs of staff in their terms. Each one had their way of running the staff and conducting their role. Lots screwed up and lots had their ego. This didn’t bode well for most.

My most favorite parts had to be the chapters that involved the presidents I actually remember growing up seeing run for and become president. Those would be Clinton, Bush Jr., and of course Obama (my favorite, probably because this was my first voting experience and he did quite a bit of great things despite the flack he got). Reading these chapters were just kind of fun to see, or rather, read behind the scenes happenings.

I’m not going to lie, I did actually listen to this book as well as read it. I don’t know if that’s cheating, but it made it a more interactive and fun experience. It gave the book more character.

So, if you’re like me and like politics or if you’re not like me and are political junkie, then this is the book for you. Or if you like history in general, this is also the book for you.

Thanks for reading!

Jess xx

*Disclaimer: I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.