Three Books That Paint a Picture of Our Presidents and Our Post WW2 History

Over the past 20 years of listening to audiobooks while commuting, I have listened to three that were especially insightful with regard to the presidents who have served our country over the course of my lifetime, which bean in 1952.

The three books I want to highlight here are Walter Cronkite's A Reporter's Life, Alan Greenspan's The Age of Turbulence and Chris Whipple's The Gatekeeprs: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency.

I just finished reading the last of these three. Chris Whipple's book is an outstanding insider's view from the hottest hot seat inside the White House, the Chief of Staff, arguably the second most powerful person in the world. Whipple's book is a truly up close look at every Chief of Staff from Nixon's H.R. Haldeman, who literally defined the role, to Obama's series of CoS gatekeepers.

The audiobook I listened to ended at the end of the Obama administration, but offered advice to the incoming Washington outside Donald Trump. The most recent, updated version of the book has added a chapter about the chaos within the current Trump White House.

Whereas the last of these three books is all about the White House and the men who served the various presidents, the other two books each contain a memorable chapter describing the impressions each of these men had about the leaders who served our country.'

A Reporter's Life
Walter Cronkite began his life as a reporter in the late 30's. In the beginning he was on radio at a station that covered college football. In order to get a following they decided to cover Notre Dame because a large portion of the audience was Catholic. They did not have the money to go to the games, so they would follow the games on a newsfeed and pretend they were actually at the game, reporting live. Once in a while they would lose the news feed and make up plays on the fly until the game came back online, a truly original and early version of fake news.

Late in the book he described his first hand experiences and observations from interviewing the various presidents from Ike Eisenhower to Ronald Reagan. What I most remember is that Cronkite had assumed that Eisenhower was not a hands-on president but rather a chief executive who golfed every afternoon and was out of touch with the day to day operations of government. What he learned in a late 1970s 13 hour interview was that Dwight Eisenhower was exceedingly knowledgeable and in touch with every facet of his administration, answering in-depth and without notes every question Cronkite threw at him.

Cronkite described Jimmy Carter as the smartest president, yet not the best president. Carter had a brilliant mind but talked over peoples' heads and did not know how to connect with the public. Also, as a one-term governor with no Washington experience, he struggled to be effective. He easily showed that he was thorough, intelligent and grasped the various complexities of multiple issues, but he was unable to bring these ideas down to a layman's language. By way of contrast, Ronald Reagan truly was a great communicator. More about the contrasts between these two men further on.

The Age of Turbulence

Alan Greenspan's memoir, like Cronkite's, is about his own life journey, so only a chapter or two is devoted to Greenspan's intersections with presidents. Greenspan was head of the Federal Reserve for two decades with an astute knowledge of global economics. In the 50s he had been part of Ayn Rand's circle. His first Washington experience was in Nixon era. Reagan appointed him to head the Federal Reserve in 1984 and every four years he was re-appointed up through Bush 43.

The takeaways for me regarding presidents were that Ronald Reagan was not Mensa material but was very definitely wise in his ways. He created a bi-partisan think tank of advisors from both sides of the aisle and the public sector. I can't recall his observations on George H.W. Bush, but remember vividly his description of Bill Clinton. Clinton, he said, was very smart and when seeking advice from Greenspan he would listen closely and try to understand. Greenspan said that Clinton always made the right decision after each of these meetings.

The Gatekeepers

Chris Whipple begins his story with a meeting inside the White House. President Obama's incoming Chief of Staff and 16 of his predecessors meet to discuss the road ahead. That is, the former Chiefs of Staff give advice to the new kid on the block.

If you want a get an inside look at all the presidents from the past 50 years, this could be your best starting point. According to Whipple the Chief of Staff decision may be the most important decision a president can make.

Dwight Eisenhower was the first president to implement the role. His military background showed him that a president needs a gatekeeper who will keep distractions at bay, who will prioritize the president's responsibilities and delegate the rest. This person will have to be brutally honest, several of the former chiefs said, because everyone else in the White House is a yes-man. The courage to speak truth to power is an essential quality in a great chief.

Not all presidents wanted a gatekeeper, but in every instance this decision proved a bad one.

JFK was first to ignore this setup. Had he employed a Chief of Staff he would likely have avoided the Bay of Pigs and other disasters that occurred on his watch.

H.R. Haldeman exemplified what the Chief of Staff position was all about. He was one tough cookie. Unfortunately, Nixon paranoia and some loose cannons gained back door access and the fiasco that followed was inevitable. Whipple's access to released documents results in an eye-opening account of the Nixon years.

I can'r recall much of the Ford story other than by pardoning Nixon he damaged his re-election hopes.

Jimmy Carter had been a one-term governor before coming to Washington. His first mistake was having a friend with no Washington connections or experience to be his Chief. Carter handicapped himself by relying on his own acumen and not understanding how Washington worked. Whipple cites that Carter was extremely smart, but even the smartest man in the room can make bad decisions.

Reagan's successes and failures were directly related to his chiefs. Jim Baker served the first term, and did an outstanding job as gatekeeper. Reagan admitted he didn't understand how the missiles worked or many other things, but he surrounded himself with smart people and trusted them.

The first crisis to shake things a bit was getting shot by John Hinkley. I was in Mexico at the time and it was a very tense moment as the television kept playing the shooting over and over again with the only commentary being "No sabemos" in response to every question. The phrase means "We don't know."

What we do know is that Alexander Haig was a nutcase at that moment, acting as if he were practically next in line and in control of the world for its safekeeping. The team temporarily forgot the chain of command, and thankfully the Commander-in-Chief was going to making jokes about it all.

Reagan's reputation was tarnished in his second term by the Iran-Contra scandal and other issues that arose. Whipple lays the blame directly on the shoulders of Reagan selection of Donald Regan to replace Baker who needed to get a break from the weight of that responsibility.

George Bush Sr. followed. On his watch we had the fall of the Iron Curtain and also Operation Desert Storm, which liberated Kuwait.

Then came the Clinton years. Like Carter, his initial missteps were directly related to his chief selections. He went through several, and despite many positive features of his era, there were ample number of reasons his reign was pockmarked and the Chief role a revolving door.

Of course none of that compares to the chaos the ensued when George 43 came in. What a mess, and Whipple gives you a front row seat.

The book I read ended with Obama's watch. President Obama went through four Chiefs and found it difficult to get things accomplished due to a gridlocked Congress. But his Chiefs didn't always help things along.

Ultimately, these books are an insightful way to understand our history from a vantage point you don't normally have. All are in audiobook form if you listen to books while commuting or working out. I recommend all three.

Related Link
Another way of preserving our presidential history.
The Presidential Commemorative Smog Plates of Kim Abeles