The Room Where It Happened

The author and narrator of the book, John Bolton is an American diplomat who served as President Donald Trump’s national security advisor from April 2018 until September 2019. During this time, he was involved in some of the most consequential foreign policy events of Trump’s presidency, including the US’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, two bilateral summits between Trump and Kim Jong Un, and the infamous 2019 Ukraine affair which led to the president’s impeachment.

Born in 1948 in Baltimore, Maryland, Bolton first became involved in politics as a teenager when he ran his high school’s Students for Goldwater campaign during the 1964 election. He went on to study law at Yale University before joining Ronald Reagan’s administration and, later, George H. W. Bush’s. Under George W. Bush, Bolton worked as under secretary of state and ambassador to the UN.

Throughout these years Bolton became known as a hardliner who termed himself an “Americanist,” meaning he prioritized the national interest and US sovereignty over all other considerations, including the spread of democracy and global human rights. This made him very controversial among Democrats and even some Republicans, particularly US Senator Rand Paul. For this reason, Trump hired him to serve as national security advisor rather than secretary of state because the national security advisor position does not require Senate confirmation.