Team of Vipers by Cliff Simms

 

I'd had this book sitting to be read for over a year, not sure how I got it  possibly from making a political contribution back when Trump was in the White House.  One thing and another and I did not read it until a month ago.  Now instead of current events it is like reading history.  This is a first edition, published in January  2019 by St Martin's Press.  It is 344 pages and ends with  " We walked off down the hallway back toward the West Wing and he tied a bow on his line of thought.  "2020 will be fun, that I can tell you--a lot of fun, ".he said, "The kneelers!  Just watch"    Just watch.  I will. And so will you.  Because the fact of the matter is, when it comes to Trump, we just can't look away." 

 A perfect summary to a well written episode of the author's experiences while serving in the Trump Whitehouse. The author "soon found himself pulled into the President's inner circle as a confidant, an errand boy, an adviser, a punching bag, and a friend.  Sometimes all in the same conversation."  The complexity of the situation. Sims is an outsider too and this may be why the powers ultimately came after him..

 The title suits the workings,  instead of a Team of Rivals ala Abraham Lincoln Trump had vipers.  Whether or not he knew it , who knows.  Was it deliberate?  Who knows these questions are not answered in this book.  Neither is the book accusatory toward Trump or any individual in particular. The chapter, A Tale of Two Generals contrasts the soon to ousted Steve Bannon with gives a different perspective  about General Kelly. pg. 209, "..the President said, "Steve is a good guy but I told them to straighten it out or I will.    From that point forward, it felt like his days were numbered.  To me.  To the President.  To every single person in the West Wing.  To everyone it seemed but Steve Bannon. Once Trump replaced Priebus with Kelly and gave him the authority to put the entire staff under his thumb, I figured Bannon was indeed finished.  Kelly was bent on installing a more defined staff hierarchy, with himself at the top, and it was hard to imagine Bannon subordinating himself to another staffer, even a four-star Marine general."   I had long admired Kelly whom I thought had done a great job of chief of staff trying to bring chaos to the West Wing organization to herd cats.  Yet his personality and style was not exactly as I had imagined.   Page 211, "Kelly, whom aides had already taken to calling "The Chief" another respectful nod that Priebus never received motioned subtly for everyone to sit down.  He didn't make small talk.  "How many of you here have prior government experience?" he asked straight away.  Out of the forty people in the room only one or two hands shot up....."Let me give you some advice, ok? You're going to be dealing with the press.  Tell the truth.  That's important,  I know what you all do.  You know , other generals would get mad at me sometimes because I got such good press.  But that's because I knew how to talk to the press.  I knew how to work with them and they didn't."  ".After he'd left, several press aides, spoked that the new Chief had already exposed himself as a leaker by talking about what great press he used to get.  The only people who attract positive stories in this town, they noted are the ones who reporters can't take shots at because they're scared to lose them as a source."   Wow that is the first clue that not all was spotless and faithfulness in the General.  

 it was not a tell all nor were there many  new things now  reading it looking back, but I did gain some different perspective on some of the personalities of that saga.  I was unfamiliar with this author but he did a very decent job writing what could have been a "poor me, look what happened" instead he owns up to his own naivete, mistakes and acknowledges that despite it all, he learned a lot.  His tenure on the Trump team could have left him seething but he does not develop that attitude.  He returns to his civilian life wiser.

In the introduction Simms  mentions that Trump's greatest fear is obscurity.  But he goes on  about Election night, pg. Xiv," .. and he didn't care who was listening.  Trump talked like other people breathed. It was like a form of exercise to him--an endless exertion of words, phrases, asides and observations."...." ..he just is who he is."  and that sets the tone.  I have believed that about Trump always, he is who he is so I was intrigued to read it, a validation of my thoughts. There is enough information that causes me to speculate about the loyalty of  KellyAnne Conway  toward the end of her time.  Page 257, the author reflects on the time and that while he was not always proud of everything the President had done or tweeted or the way the author himself  had behaved at times, he was proud of what had been accomplished.  . "Kellyanne's line from the darkest moments of the campaign, "There's a difference ...between what offends you and what affects you." 

Beginning of Author's note

I also liked that this book is well organized with 15 distinct chapters, with titles that reflect the subject matter of that chapter and an Epilogue, "Outside the Bubble." This technique seems rare today. and shows that the author did not just thoughtlessly ramble along.  Page 7, "This was my first direct exposure to Trump's ability to distill an argument down into a bite sized nugget packed with symbolism, even if it wasn't entirely aligned with the facts.  It was a speaking style built for the age of social media and 24/7 cable news."  

Opening chapter

I have always felt bad about Jeff Sessions, the former Attorney General who was devoted to Trump.  Yet when he recused himself Trump was done with him and  Sessions never retaliated.  The relationship of the author with Sessions, both are from Alabama, validates what an outstanding character Sessions is.    I thoroughly enjoyed this book,  give it  just about 5 *****.  It is well organized, well written, and a keeper on my shelf of political reads. I took pages of notes while reading this.