BOOKS: Trump and His Generals: Peter Bergen

Published 12:00 pm Saturday, December 28, 2019

President Donald J. Trump has created a cottage industry of books about him.

Books for him. Books against him. Books that try to explain various aspects of him and his presidential administration.

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In “Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos,” author/journalist Peter Bergen delves into the president’s relationships with the generals tapped to serve in his White House.

The generals have included the short-lived tenure of Gen. Mike Flynn as national security advisor, Gen. H.R. McMaster as Flynn’s replacement, Gen. Jim Mattis as secretary of defense, Gen. John Kelly as White House chief of staff.

Trump once claimed he loved “my generals” but they have all since left his administration – let go by misstep, termination, resignation because of opposition to policy or gone from sheer exhaustion and a complete schism with the president.

Bergen looks into the relationships between the generals and the president. He has a talent for detail and personality.

In most cases, the generals lean on long-term policy in advising Trump against his Twitter inclinations toward foreign policy. In some cases, the generals even obstruct or ignore the president’s wishes, according to the book.

A few years ago, Bergen wrote a riveting account of the taking down of Osama bin Laden with his book, “Manhunt.” He creates another page turner with “Trump and His Generals.” 

The latest book includes many accounts and details that have been covered in newspapers and television news coverage as well as other books, but Bergen chronicles them within the framework of his title’s theme.

“Trump and His Generals” is an intriguing look at a president who needed the cache and prestige of generals in the beginning of his administration but has come to see them as impediments to the administration of his White House.

The generals are gone but the president remains.