Chris Whipple

Although the U.S. president is often referred to as "the leader of the free world" and other powerful-sounding titles, the person holding that office isn't a monolith but rather surrounded by a number of advisors, chief among them being, well, the Chief of Staff. This book discusses the various persons who have held that title from the Nixon presidency through the Obama one. As that covers ground over several decades, some topics are touched upon but briefly while other high-profile incidents have more details given. The book is well-researched, pulling from previous biographies of the various personages as well as new interviews by the author. The author isn't bias-free, but does take care to note the pros and cons of each Chief of Staff over the years, never fully vilifying nor exalting any one of them. The audiobook version has a good narrator who doesn't exactly do impersonations but does his best to make all the various people described in the book sound unique. This is a very engaging and informative book for those interested in history, politics, and the intersection of the two.… (meer)

Just as good as his other book "Gatekeepers", which is about the chiefs of staff to the president of the last 50 years or so. Just like this book does with C.I.A. directors, you get a really insightful and different perspective on American history and world events, and I enjoyed learning about people who have literally changed the direction of history by the decisions they made- and it gives detail to what some of those people were like outside of the short bio's you may or may not be familiar with. I hope he plans on writing another book and if he does it will be something I won't pass up.… (meer)

Just as good as his other book "Gatekeepers", which is about the chiefs of staff to the president of the last 50 years or so. Just like this book does with C.I.A. directors, you get a really insightful and different perspective on American history and world events, and I enjoyed learning about people who have literally changed the direction of history by the decisions they made- and it gives detail to what some of those people were like outside of the short bio's you may or may not be familiar with. I hope he plans on writing another book and if he does it will be something I won't pass up.… (meer)

Very good book. Well written and I liked the way the author wrote about each Chief of Staff to the presidents from Nixon to Trump, their contribution to the the president they served (or lack of), how the president enabled or cobbled them and how each one dealt with a crisis of their president's presidency. I learned a lot reading this book about events in history and the inside insight to the events and the presidents. It's interesting how important this position is but how it doesn't have the prestige of a cabinet position.… (meer)