Book Review by James R Martin
Bob Woodward’s new book “Rage,” brings the reader in to the story as an observer to what I call a direct documentary on paper. Journalistic film and television documentaries have a long history beginning in 1960 with Primary, directed by Robert Drew and Richard Leacock. Primary initiated a form of documentary actuality that became known as “direct cinema” a style that brought the viewer in as an observer. This journalistic documentary style of reporting also has its roots in work by Edward R Murrow and Fred Friendly. Woodward is able to create a form of visual actuality with his format and writing.
Bob Woodward’s new book “Rage” is a journalistic nonfiction book but it fits the criteria of documentary work in all the best ways. It is based on seventeen recorded interviews done over a seven-month period (in person and on the phone) with the subject of the book, President Donald Trump. The quotes used in the narrative of the book are verbatim and backed up by recorded audio interviews with Trump, others or “dark sources” (not named sources) who have also been recorded or sourced as factual accounts. The book includes sixteen pages of photographs that give a face to many of the individuals involved in this story. Woodward has taken great pains in this work to include supporting documentation with a section of extensive notes on sources and references for each chapter and an index.
Robert Caro, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Power Broker writes on the book cover: “Bob Woodward, a great reporter. What is a great reporter? Someone who never stops trying to get as close to the truth as possible. There is no truth, we all know that. No one truth. No objective truth. No single truth. No simple truth or no one simple truth either. But there are facts. Hard facts. Objective facts. Verifiable facts. And the more facts you come up with the closer you come to whatever truth there is.”
Woodward’s style in Rage is to narrate the story with his subjective experience including facts, interviews, and additional information. This brings the reader into the room with Trump and others when events unfold over seven months in 2020 as the Trump administration faces the COVID-19 global pandemic. “Rage draws’ from hundreds of hours of interviews with firsthand witnesses as well as participants’ notes, emails, diaries, calendars and confidential documents.”
The Story
Rage begins in the oval office on January 28, 2020 when President Trump is told that there could be a pandemic that reaches the scale of the 1918 Spanish Flu that killed 675,000 Americans. “This is going to be the roughest thing you face,” said Robert O’Brien, the national security advisor to Trump. This while other cabinet members at the meeting did not think there was anything to worry about at that point. Even when, Matt Pottiner, Deputy national security advisor, said that China had already locked down the city of Wuhan, population 11 million. China was not being transparent about the virus and had refused help from the U.S. China also had stopped domestic air travel but not foreign travel. Sources said the disease was transmitted from person to person, but China did not disclose this. Trump asked what he should do? He was advised to stop foreign travel into the U.S. On January 31, Trump imposed restrictions on travelers from China. But according to the book, Trump’s attention was on other things, like the Super Bowl, rallies and political considerations.
This story revolves around conversations/interviews between Woodward and Trump either in person at the White House and background events taking place from January through July 2020. In addition, there are flashbacks to the relationships of Trump and Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coates. These episodes serve to establish Trump’s type of administration and the character of the President. But they also set the scene for how Trump does not really deal with the virus as most presidents would have.
Woodward’s style of writing pulls the reader into the story in a way that at times seems like it is the script for a film. But it isn’t fiction. It is actual events and statements that give insight into the handling or non-handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is scary to hear Trump content to have only 60,000 deaths knowing that as of late-September 2020 there will be 200,000 deaths nationwide. We also learn that Trump knew how severe the virus was. We hear Trump tell Woodward in February how bad this virus is, that it can kill and be transmitted in the air. At the same time Trump is telling the public not to worry, “it will go away and it’s no worse than the flu. Prior to release of the book Woodward released the actual recorded voice of Trump saying things reported in the book. This made the book feel even more like a documentary.
Rage is important, should be read and is well written. It gives insight into the personality and actions of Trump and many of those people around him like Jarred Kushner, his son-in-law. Woodward takes the reader behind the scenes. It is interesting to note that Trump consented to the interviews by Woodward after Woodward’s previous book Fear: Trump in the White House was not complimentary of Trump.
Reading the quotes from the interviews with Trump in the book brings them to life. A sense of Trump’s personality, fears and how he reacts to various subjects emerges. It seems that Trump wanted to let Woodward know something about himself, maybe that he was smart and understood how bad the virus was even though he tried to “play it down” to the country. There was also an aspect of Trump thinking he could charm or impress Woodward into writing good things about him. Woodward is fair in his style. He sticks to the facts and lets Trump have his say.
The book ends around in July. It is clear that Trump’s obsession for the past seven months was with getting re-elected. Many of the political things that are covered are coming to pass now, in September 2020, weeks before the election. In the end Woodward writes: “When his performance as president is taken in its entirety, I can only reach one conclusion: Trump is the wrong man for the job.”
Review by James R (Jim) Martin, writer, director, documentary filmmaker and professor.
