The Situation Room: Book Review

The Situation Room: The Inside Story of Presidents in Crisis, George Stephanopoulos, 2024. As a special advisor and spokesman for Bill Clinton, Stephanopoulos had some familiarity with the “Sit Room,” where strategic information is gathered, analyzed, and summarized for executive decisions.

Prologue: Center of the Storm. The story starts with January 6, 2021, when the Capital came under attack by a mob, encouraged by President Trump. “The Situation Room staff was on alert, monitoring events, synthesizing public information and private intelligence. … On this day, they never called [Trump]. He didn’t call them. The president was the cause of the crisis. On analyst said: “It was just one thing after another” (p. 1). “We went into a continuity of government situation” (p. 3). That was the term (COG) started by Eisenhower during the Cold War. It had only been used during 9/11. The Situation Room was the crisis center during catastrophes. The staffers work for the presidency, not the president. That was a particular challenge during the Trump years.

Chapter 1: At the Creation. General Godfrey McHugh introduced JFK to the Situation Room to combat communism: “a management tool by providing intelligence, communications, briefing, display, and monitor facilities” (p. 10). This probably would have been useful before the Bay of Pigs disaster, like movement of ships and planes. A “watch center” was also suggested. It was compared to Lincoln going to the telegraph office to study latest battle information. McKinley set up a “war room” during the Spanish-American War in 1897 (telephones had been introduced). FDR created a map room during WWII.

Eisenhower expressed a desire for a crisis center and had a study made, but did not act on it. That was left to Kennedy, created in a week in the White House basement. The “purpose was to serve as a funnel for all classified information coming from all national security agencies” (p. 18). Initially, duty officers were made up of CIA officers, expanded under Reagan to State, NSA, and Defense Intelligence. The NSC had been created by Truman in 1947 to advise on national security.

Officers were expected to be: “focused, organized, intelligent, judicious, apolitical, fast readers, critical thinkers, and cool under pressure” (p. 21). Initially, they relied on cables from teletype printers, then made phone connections with world leaders, including the “Mac-Jack line” between JFK and Harold Macmillan of the UK. In 1962 was the Cuban missile crisis. There was no hot line between the US and USSR at the time, meaning communications were slow. There was chaos when JFK was assassinated in 1963. LBJ was in Dallas and took over as president immediately.

Chapter 2: All Through the Night. LBJ meddled in Vietnam to his detriment. McNamara made it clear that winning wouldn’t happen [which did not stop him from lying about “progress”], but Johnson couldn’t see himself losing a war. He spent considerable time in the Sit Room where a massive amount of data came in. Micromanagement continued, with five daily reports going to LBJ and he was on the phone constantly. Quick intelligence could not help a flawed strategy.

The Washington-Moscow Direct Communication Link (by typewriter, in the Pentagon) started in 1963, with thousands of miles of underground cables and each side sent daily messages. The Six Day War in Israel was announced quickly by the UPI with both the US and Russia wanted it ended.

Chapter 3: All Hell Has Broken Loose. Nixon stayed out of the Sit Room, later incapacitated by “scotch, sleeping pills, and depression” (p. 51). Kissinger was an activist Secretary of State. There was war in the Middle East. Kissinger led Sit Room meetings with Nixon incapacitated. This time the Soviet Union supported the Arabs. Kissinger used his “shuttle diplomacy,” flying to Moscow to meet with Brezhnev. A cease fire was negotiated.

Then Nixon fired Archibald Cox creating the Saturday Night Massacre when the Attorney General refused to do it. Al Haig got into the mix without being honest about his intentions. Alerts from the Middle East with potential Russian interference resulted in DEFCON3 with military forces on standby (when Nixon was incapacitated). Brezhnev was also incapacitated in Russia using alcohol and sleeping pills.

Nixon resigned in 1974. The Sit Room and the entire White House went on lockdown. “General Scowcroft came down to the Sit Room and said, ‘proceed as usual, nothing will change. We’ll just carry on as we have’” (p. 67).

Chapter 4: SOS. In 1975 after the fall of Saigon, the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia seized the US container ship SS Mayaguez and its crew. Information flow and accuracy were a problem. (Seven years before North Korea sized the USS Pueblo capturing 82 crewmen and killing one.) They didn’t know who the leader of Cambodia was or where the crewmen were. The Khmer Rouge broadcast they would release the crewmen after 38 marines died trying to rescue them.

Chapter 5: Close Encounters. During Carter’s administration, the Iran hostage crisis in 1979  resulted in Iran storming the US embassy in Tehran and capturing the diplomats. Dessert Storm was a failed attempt to rescue them. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance objected and resigned when it happened. Robert Gates of the CIA was involved in the attempt.

Chapter 6: The Helm is Right Here. Reagan was hit by an assassin in 1981 and rushed to the hospital where he underwent surgery. VP Bush was on a plane and unavailable. Much of the cabinet and NSC team were in the Sit Room with Secretary of State Al Haig claiming to be in charge. Reagan was opposed to communism including his “evil Empire” speech. This was the time when Hezbollah killed 241 at the marine barracks in Beirut. The Sit Room had been expanded and technology improved.

NSC advisor John Poindexter set up a Crisis Management Center as a command center, then circumvented controls to open back channels with Oliver North which led to the Iran-Contra affair, essentially an arms-for-hostages deal with Hezbollah. Weapons were sold to Iran to get around the arms embargo in exchange for seven American hostages. Money was diverted for the Nicaraguan Contras, again illegal. Poindexter and North tried to destroy evidence. The role of Reagan was unknown. The Tower Commission claimed “the president did not seem to be aware of the way in which the operation was implemented” (p. 138).

In 1982 Brezhnev died, then Andropov and Chernenko. Mikhail Gorbachev became Soviet leader, attempting reform with perestroika (economic) and glasnost (openness). In 1987 Reagan made a speech at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. Berliners wanted the wall removed, as noted by speechwriter Peter Robinson. Result: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” which diplomats objected to because it would embarrass the Russians (favoring “State Department drivel”). Reagan and Gorbachev met later, with arms reduction talks.

Chapter 7: Right Side of History. Bush 41 becomes president in 1989 and Condoleezza Rice as Soviet expert: how to deal with Gorbachev. Havel claimed power in Czechoslovakia and the Eastern bloc became free of the Soviet Union. Lech Walesa in Poland, Romania leader Ceausescu executed, then the Berlin Wall came down. This was downplayed by Bush, not wishing a Kremlin backlash.

China had similar protests in 1989 beginning with Tiananmen Square and just used violence to kill and capture thousands. Bush was well aware of Beijing geography and the Sit Room staff had to buy a tourist map of Beijing and use CNN to keep up. Deng invited Bush to visit (downplaying the violence). The staff ignored the secure video TV conferences system, not wanting to be face-to-face (and thought they were being recorded).

There was a coup in the Philippines and Corazon Aquino became president over Marcos, also in 1989. Scowcroft, Baker, and Gates were in Malta and they discovered that video conferences was all that was needed to stay in touch—no need to rush to the White House. Video conferencing expanded after that. They could stay in their command centers.

Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990. Bush gathered allies for a military response. “Baghdad Bob” was declaring victory for Iraq no matter what. Assets were frozen, the start of the 6-month Gulf War. The Sit Room stayed active the whole time, given the huge amount of information. Scowcroft was particularly valuable. Military force rather than sanctions was chosen. Norman Schwartzkopf was leading the troops and they easily beat Iraq out of Kuwait, but did not take out Hussein.

Despite an approval rate of 90% for Bush, Clinton (with Stephanopoulos part of the campaign) suggesting that the US needed a “president who cares as much about the Middle West as the Middle East” (p. 172). Clinton proved to be a corrupt womanizer but won in 1992. Stephanopoulos became communications director.

Chapter 8: Please Hold for the President. Stephanopoulos spent a lot of time in the Sit Room to get the best information on what was going on before updating the president and the press. Key issues were Russia, North Korea, Haiti, and Somalia, then Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and the crisis in Bosnia. UN ambassador Madeleine Albright lobbied hard for air strikes. Serbs attacked Muslims in Kosovo. The Powell Doctrine set a high standard for military action (US interest, overwhelming force with public support). It took major “ethnic cleansing” for NATO bombing to be used to end the war.

Sexism was a problem. One woman asked a Navy staffer if they had to rise to a certain rank to be issued a sense of humor. Male colleagues typically did not listen to women in the room. It took until 1999 for the first black director, Elliott Powell, a Navy captain.

Then Monica Lewinsky testified to a grand jury about Clinton. Clinton was impeached for lying under oath and obstruction of justice.

Y2K caused panic, including in the Sit Room but became a non-event on January 1, 2000.

Chapter 9: This is Where We Fight From. September 11, 2001. Secret Service had identified a credible threat, but the White House did not act on it. Terrorists hijacked planes, which hit the twin towers and the Pentagon. It was assumed that one was headed for the White House, which was evacuated. Except the duty officers in the Sit Room did not leave. The Sit Room was the node for presidential communications and Bush was in Florida, then on Air Force One trying to figure out where to land. Much of the cabinet was in the Emergency Operations Center, a bunker, with limited communications.

The people in the Sit Room created a “Dead List,” who died when the White House was destroyed. Gary Bresnahan, the tech guy, stayed three days without leaving, sleeping on the floor.

US troops invaded Afghanistan, with reasonable effectiveness. Staying and trying to build a “democracy” was ridiculous but done anyway. The Bush invaded Iraq, moving resources from Afghanistan, also badly handled. The cost was thousands of lives and over a trillion dollars.

Obama won the next election, with a threat of a Somali terrorist attack at the inauguration. Consequently, many Obama staff watched the event in the Sit Room. No problem for the Sit Room staff, who were professional and apolitical.

Chapter 10: The Pacer. Killing Bin Laden. Al-Qaeda bombed the World Trade Center in 1993, attacked the USS Cole in 2001, then 9/11. The CIA discovered Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, then McRaven’s Seal team planned the attack which required considerable complex planning. Robert Gates opposed it after the earlier Dessert One disaster, favoring a drone attack. VP Biden asked tough questions and came up with alternatives, giving Obama an opportunity to mull over tough decisions. One question: CIA identified “the pacer” roaming around the compound as Bin Laden. Alternatives were not considered. Obama was methodical in his decision making.

“The job of political appointees is to tell the boss what they need to hear, not what they want to hear” (p. 258). The launch was a go, the night of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. A helicopter went down in the compound, but the attack continued. There was a feed to the Sit Room including a drone flying above the compound. The major officials crammed into a small room where the feed was broadcast. The White House photographer took multiple pictures, including the iconic one of the officials as Bin Laden was killed (“Geronimo EKIA”). After the Seals made it out with Bin Laden’s body, key officials were informed from the Sit Room, some 65 calls. Newsman Stephanopoulos went to work early.

Chapter 11: Postcards From the Edge. The chaos of Donald Trump. “When it came to the Trump administration, it was often difficult to know what was true and what was not. As Omarosa put it in an NBC interview: ‘This is a White House where everybody lies” (p. 272). “Almost nothing was normal. …During the Trump administration, the president was the crisis to be managed” (p. 274). The national security team had constant turnover, as did most departments: “He was the least disciplined human I ever met in my life” (p. 274). He expected everyone to come to him and rarely asked for information from the Sit Room. “He had no idea what the issues were. He never learning anything” (John Bolton, p. 278). Then he would act on the advice of the last person.

Covid-19 caused extreme disruption, with complicated protocols in the Sit Room. They wore masks in the Sit Room, but Trump essentially banned their use in the White House.

There was the 2019 call between Trump and Zelensky of Ukraine where he threatened to withhold weapons unless they found dirt on Hunter Biden, resulting in a whistleblower complaint, then impeachment. Trump sided with Putin over his intelligence agencies on Russian interference with the election. Then he wanted to trade Puerto Rico for Greenland, because of the high-cost damage of Hurricane Maria. Then Trump inciting a mob to storm the Capitol. Washington looked like a war zone until inauguration day on January 20.

The Sit Room staff was apolitical, but had to deal with the chaos—basically one strange thing after another.

Chapter 12: Tiger Team. In August 2021 was the suicide bomber in Kabul with Biden in the Sit Room. 200 dead including 13 US servicemembers. There was a failure on Biden’s part on the withdrawal from Afghanistan and from intelligence on the strength of the Afghan forces—which proved to be near zero.

Biden wanted to hear all points of view including people in the field. The Sit Room was good for multiple views, including looking for weak points and blind spots. There was plenty of blame on the Afghan pullout.

According to Kissinger, Putin was a character out of Dostoevsky, with a mystic vision of a Russian empire. Russia invaded Crimea in 2014 with few consequences, suggesting there were few limits on achieving his empire. Zelensky was given contingency planning by NSC staffer Alex Bink, using the Tiger Team, experts to think through what might happen (e.g., most likely versus worst-case). “Failure was not an option. Too much was at stake: Ukrainian sovereignty. Global geopolitical stability. The threat of a ground war expanding into other parts of Europe. The possibility of nuclear conflict” (p. 309). Biden wanted an independent Ukraine, NATO unity, and avoid WWIII.

Putin forged ahead but there was no surprise. The attack came on February 24, 2022, what Putin called a “special military operation.” Zelensky hunkered down in his presidential compound and the Russians showed the results of military kleptocracy—incredible incompetence.

Epilogue. WHSR. When Stephanopoulos visited the Sit Room it had been “transformed into a digitally advanced, ergonomically designed, smartly configured complex” (p. 319), with the name changed to WHSR. He mentioned healthy debates among professionals rather than “group think” (almost Orwellian). “The Achilles heel of any autocracy is that you don’t have people who are willing or able to speak truth to power” (Tony Blinken, p. 321). There were two distinct groups, political principles and duty officers.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was a critic, believing that national security should depend on artificial intelligence to discover important information and analyze it, then professional humans to do the reasoning.