This book is well researched and written. It gives a history of the Situation Room in the White House. The room itself is very different from what has been presented in movies and television although the most recent update starts to approximate the media. How it was used by Presidents has varied from very little to fairly frequent use. It makes for a very interesting read.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.

The Situation Room by George Stephanopolous and Lisa Sickey is a unique look inside the title’s room inside the White House, its history, and how US Presidents utilized the room or avoided it.
What the authors do a great job at is interviewing and detailing the people who made up the room over the course of its history, under the conditions of the administrations and circumstances in which they worked. The reader of this captivating book will appreciate, as I predict will history, the ability to track down some still living participants and get their stories on record.
The Situation Room leaves the location occasionally, no doubt to provide an appropriate word count, but unlike other books that stray from their title topic, the authors are quick to return to the source of their writing. Of course, in 2024, a study on anything in the political world is going to have a slant, and I will not go in detail, because there was not a lot of the slant, however the discerning reader will suss out where there is the author’s fingers on the scale of preference. However, I was surprised at how limited the lean was, when considering the book’s main author.
For this reader, it is rare that a non-fiction book is a hard to put down page turner, and yet this was. If you are in to Washington D.C., Presidential Politics, National Security, and/or The White House, you will enjoy immersing yourself in The Situation Room.

The book.delves into how each President, starting with President Kennedy through Trump utilized the Situation Room in the White House during major crises. I particularly found the 9-11 crisis and the killing of Bin laden interesting. The book dragged in spots but a good read for those interested in Presidential history.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. It was outstanding!
The author, whom I have admired for a long time, is one of the pre-eminent political reporters of the current times. His experiences have led him to be ultra-qualified to analyze and report on political matters. And, he is funny to boot!
Stephanopoulos takes us deep into the history of the White House Situation Room. The room where the big decisions are made that will affect people world-wide. Starting with Kennedy, carrying through every president to Biden, the author offers insights and information about the decisions made in this little, unassuming room. The Kennedy assignation, the Vietnam War, the crazy exploits and meltdown of Nixon, the attempted hostage rescue in Iran, the takedown of Osama Bin Laden, and the January 6th insurrection. They are all covered here. Along with interviews with the people who were in the room, and the people responsible for the overall operation logistics of the room.
You get a real feel of being in the room. The struggles, disasters, and triumphs of the President's making the decisions. You can see which President's rose to the occasion, and which were found lacking.
I read the entire book in two sittings. I just could not put it down. It was just that good. Now I am going to let it sit for a short time, then go back and read it again. There's so much information in it, one reading just doesn't do it justice. That's the mark of a really, really good book!

My thanks to author George Stephanopoulos, Grand Central Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an ARC of this new book. I attest this review is my own unbiased and objective work.

We've all heard of the White House Situation Room. What we lacked was an understanding of when and how the Situation Room evolved over the course of time. The research behind this book consisted of numerous documents and interviews with the actual participants and people who worked in the Situation Room. Author and broadcaster George Stephanopoulos guides the reader through the development and history of the Situation Room (hereafter abbreviated as SR) through the past eleven Presidencies in this highly readable and interesting new book.

Starting with the Kennedy administration, we learn how the SR operated in a very crude manner in the time it took to relay information primarily through a system of telephone lines, which may have helped contribute to the Bay of Pigs debacle early in JFK's presidency. This was inferred from reading the text, not explicitly stated by the author. From there the SR is examined from the Johnson to the current Biden presidencies.

There are many remarkable moments in the book depending on your own perspective of history. For me the most interesting chapters were those devoted to the two Bush presidencies (for GHW Bush the fall of the Berlin Wall, collapse of the USSR; for GW Bush the story of 9/11 and its aftermath). However, there are many other interesting stories such as LBJ's obsession with the Vietnam War; the Mayaguez Incident in the Ford years; and the rogue actions by Oliver North that took place during the Reagan White House.

There is also a very interesting juxtaposition of the parallel events involving Operation Eagle Claw in the Carter administration to try and rescue hostages in Iran, and Operation Neptune Spear which resulted in the assassination of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan. A central character in these chapters is Robert Gates, former US Defense Secretary who was a witness to both the failed and successful raids.

I am a big fan of Presidential History and was excited to have the chance to read the book. I found it very well written and engaging, and highly recommend it if interested in the subject.

@GrandCentralpub

Unputdownable modern history! I loved the substance and style of this history of one of the world most important rooms. Stephanopopoulos’ writing is approachable and still substantial. The book follows each administrations “Sit Room” habits, staff, and greatest moments. Weather those moments are soaring wins or dismal failures readers can always appreciate the steady hand of servants who keep things humming along with steadfast integrity and readiness. We have much to thank those guardians for. The surprise hero, without a doubt, is Gary Besnahan the ultimate IT guy who brought the room into this century and managed to make some of the most technical and tightly secured communication techniques possible years before they were widely available. I found the book imminently readable and relatable. I also added to my reading list works by various of the leaders who’ve been interviewed, their direct quotes in the books being some of the very best parts. Thanks to NetGalley, Grand Central Publishing and the author George Stephanolpoulos for the ARC! Make sure to add this one to your summer 2024 reading lists!

In “The Situation Room”, Stephanopoulos walks us through different presidential crises that took place in the “The Sit Room”. We learn about the Kennedy Assassination, The Cuban Missile Crisis, The Vietnam War, the Reagan shooting, 9/11 and the January 6th insurrection, naming just a few, and how they were handled. The Nixon and Trump administrations show a lot of ineptitude and fault.

I learned an incredible amount of information and found some of it differed from what I always thought. I’m so glad I read this book to set my mind straight.

I give this book 4 stars, it did drag on in spots, but I do recommend it to anyone interested in politics and history. Thank you, NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the advanced copy.

First, thanks to NetGalley, Grand Central Publishing and the authors for providing me an advance copy of The Situation Room.

The Situation Room is a highly accessible, popular history of the "nerve center" of the White House and presidential communications. It is not for academic audiences, but is clearly intended for the general public. Starting with its early history in the JFK administration and proceeding until the current Biden administration, the book juxtaposes discussion of the professionals who work in the Situation Room, the purpose of the activities there, and certain key moments in US intelligence and military history in which the Situation Room and the individuals who worked there played a pivotal role.

It is a highly readable, fast paced history told by someone with incredible access and experience that provides a lot of opportunity to hear from key voices. While the time jumps could occasionally feel disjointing (many administrations get one or two stories for their four or eight years and time jumps happen), the examples chosen do a good job of telling different pieces of the story of the importance of the room and the people who work there. It is easy to recognize their sacrifices and talents. It's also a different, insider perspective on many historical events that we otherwise know a lot about. Definitely recommended to political/military/intelligence and other history nerds like myself

“The Situation Room” by George Stephanopoulos is an excellent history of the White House communications and decision-making center first established during the Kennedy administration. Readers interested in the Presidency, The White House, and how various modern Presidents and their administrations have utilized the room—and how they made decisions during national crises—will want to add it to their libraries.

As Mr. Stephanopoulos explains: many presidents have found the need for a “nerve center” during times of crisis. Lincoln spent hours in the War Department’s telegraph office keeping abreast of battlefield reports. FDR converted the White House billiards room into the Map Room which he came to twice each day to monitor the progress of WWII. But it wasn’t until the 1961 Bay of Pigs incident with its various communications failures that the Kennedy Administration converted the White House’s basement bowling alley into the Situation Room.

Stephanopoulos shows us the Situation Room in action during various crises over the next 60 years: The Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy Assassination, The Viet Nam War, the Nixon Resignation, the Iranian Hostage Crisis and the failed “Desert One” rescue attempt, the attempted assassination of President Reagan, Desert Storm, 9/11, and the hunt for Osama Bin Laden—just to mention a few—all the way up to the Biden Administration’s handling of the war in Ukraine.

Along the way, he details the various physical and technological upgrades the center has received. What began as a small, drab conference room and support offices bearing no resemblance to what was portrayed in movies like “Dr. Strangelove” is now a state-of-the-art center for communications and decision-making.

In exploring how these crises were managed, Mr. Stephanopoulos explains how each administration utilized the Situation Room, as well as the differences between them. Some used the center well and with great success. Others fared poorly. Presidents who assembled a collegial, collaborative team that followed a well-thought-out process based on past experiences, including mistakes, did well. Those who chose to “go it alone” did not.

Mr. Stephanopoulos includes many fascinating anecdotes, some of which include the actions and reactions of other world leaders such as Kruschev, Putin, Thatcher, and even then-Prince Charles. He treats most of the presidents and aides serving over the last 60 years very evenhandedly, taking pains to credit the discipline, dedication, and professionalism of many NSC political appointees (e.g., Brent Scowcroft, Bob Gates, Madeline Albright) and most especially, of the non-political staff assigned to the Situation Room. (However, fans of former Presidents Trump and Nixon should know that Mr. Stephanopoulos’s pen does not treat those two men kindly.)

In conclusion, I found “The Situation Room” to be a well-written, riveting exploration of one of the most vital components of the Executive Branch; and fully deserving of a five-star rating.

My thanks to NetGalley, author George Stephanopoulos, and publisher Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a complimentary ARC. The foregoing is my independent opinion.