Review: Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House by Cliff Sims

Title: Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House
Author: Cliff Sims
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Publication Date: January 29, 2019
Edition: ebook (384 pages)
Genres:

• Nonfiction
• Biography
• Memoir
• Politics

My Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Cliff Sims writes candidly about his time spent with the Trump campaign followed by his time in the White House serving on President Donald J. Trump's staff. From detailed notes he took during this time, he reconstructs his encounters with the President, other members of the White House staff, as well as members of Congress.

Mr. Sims is well educated, bright and is politically conservative. I chose to read this book for just those reasons, hoping it would help me, and perhaps other readers, who have opposite political views to understand the appeal of Donald Trump. Though I think Mr. Sims gave it the old college try, I am still at a loss to understand the appeal of Trump, but that is not the author's fault as much as it is a difference between two very different political perspectives and ideologies. After reading several books by those with more than a passing acquaintance with this President, I think it's time I accept the reality that I may never understand the appeal of this President, the philosophy of today's conservatives, and the rule breaking and deal making that seems to be widely accepted and exercised by today's GOP political operatives, especially those who say they are Christians. I found the book interesting, but was frustrated by the almost bland acceptance of actions that I and many others find unacceptable. Perhaps you had to be there? If the subject interests you, the book is a good read. And, though I obviously did not keep my personal comments out of this review, the book does paint a picture of what life in the Trump aura is really like.