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The Fight: A Secret Service Agent's Inside Account of Security Failings and the Political Machine
What events led a veteran Secret Service agent at the top of his profession, with no political experience, to resign his position and run for office, nearly pulling off the unlikeliest of upsets as a Republican in a deep-blue state? More importantly, what insight on issues from national and personal security to big politics can be gleaned from his successes as a Secret Service agent and failures in politics? As a former member of the elite Presidential Protection Division who served three Presidents, bestselling author Dan Bongino is uniquely qualified to provide a view from behind the curtain to warn readers about the political system that is failing them, and the security future that won't protect them.
The majority of Americans only come into contact with security when they fly or enter their workplace. They are rarely able to become acquainted with the politicians they know from robo-calls and TV ads. Bongino has experienced the inner-workings of the national security apparatus and the failed political theater that we all feel but rarely understand. Using a mix of current events, an insider's analysis, and tales from his time protecting the president, he shows where clear and foreseeable leadership failures from our current administration led to grave consequences. From a broken political process to a president who consistently misreads the American people, he shows us where America has gone wrong and how we can fight back.
The majority of Americans only come into contact with security when they fly or enter their workplace. They are rarely able to become acquainted with the politicians they know from robo-calls and TV ads. Bongino has experienced the inner-workings of the national security apparatus and the failed political theater that we all feel but rarely understand. Using a mix of current events, an insider's analysis, and tales from his time protecting the president, he shows where clear and foreseeable leadership failures from our current administration led to grave consequences. From a broken political process to a president who consistently misreads the American people, he shows us where America has gone wrong and how we can fight back.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 12, 2016
105 people are currently reading
836 people want to read
About the author
Dan Bongino
10 books178 followersDaniel John Bongino is a conservative commentator and former Secret Service agent. Bongino is a member of the Republican Party. He is the host of the popular conservative podcast, The Dan Bongino Show.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
September 28, 2019
This book is all about being a secret service agent and what he witnessed. Obviously he is Republican but it did not seem like a hatchet job. He discusses his failed run for the Senate and limitations placed on him because of his role.
Bongino is more of a Republican Libertarian, where I am more libertarian libertarian. He does make some interesting points. He calls out Clinton on her email scandal and rightfully so.
I get that a lot of people hate Trump but what blows my mind is that EVERYTHING they accuse Trump of doing that he should be impeached on is exactly and princely was Hillary did. Collusion, Obstruction, dealing with a foreign power to change the outcome of an election, use of power and privilege to grant favors for counties in return for "donations" to the Clinton Foundation and on top of all of that, the email scandal. I am not even talking about White Water, travel gate, attacking women her husband was accused of full on raping. Yet to Democrats, they literally cried when the piece of crap lost to Trump. So it would have been perfectly acceptable for Hillary to do everything Trump was falsely accused of.
If the media had an ounce of integrity, and held both parties responsible for their actions, our country would be a much better place.
Bongino is more of a Republican Libertarian, where I am more libertarian libertarian. He does make some interesting points. He calls out Clinton on her email scandal and rightfully so.
I get that a lot of people hate Trump but what blows my mind is that EVERYTHING they accuse Trump of doing that he should be impeached on is exactly and princely was Hillary did. Collusion, Obstruction, dealing with a foreign power to change the outcome of an election, use of power and privilege to grant favors for counties in return for "donations" to the Clinton Foundation and on top of all of that, the email scandal. I am not even talking about White Water, travel gate, attacking women her husband was accused of full on raping. Yet to Democrats, they literally cried when the piece of crap lost to Trump. So it would have been perfectly acceptable for Hillary to do everything Trump was falsely accused of.
If the media had an ounce of integrity, and held both parties responsible for their actions, our country would be a much better place.
July 12, 2021
More of his experience at both being a Secret Service Special Agent and his run for both the Senate and House of Representatives. What he learned from both and lessons he has learned from serving and his recommendations on getting the nation back on the right track.
July 12, 2017
I always enjoy Dan's perspective and analysis of situations. He has a gifted ability to see through the garbage.
April 29, 2019
Not my cup of tea on a number of fronts.
I did not enjoy the writing - repetitive, overly ornate. I did not enjoy the rhetoric - straw man arguments, simplistic, factional thinking, repeating as fact opinions about "the liberal establishment Democratic party".
And I did not like the politics. Not necessarily the revisiting of the Republican 2016 Greatest Hits (Sibelius, emails, Obamacare, Benghazi, Bo Bergdahl), or the lazy shortcuts about big government vs the panacaea of the free market and private enterprise. The author does not make any attempt to explain what his vision for conservatism actually is.
One example is the story about a town hall in Baltimore where he points out that the wealthy are sending their kids to well funded schools in the suburbs, while inner city schools are underfunded, due to education being a mandate funded by property taxes at a local level. I *agree* - I think most people would - that this is wrong. But the Republican party wants to gut the Department of Education, and send the education mandate back to the states. How does that do *anything* to provide more funding to inner city schools? Using local taxes for education is one of the most perverse injustices in the US. The people who most need funding get the least. The question is how to fix it? He presents no solution.
I did not enjoy the writing - repetitive, overly ornate. I did not enjoy the rhetoric - straw man arguments, simplistic, factional thinking, repeating as fact opinions about "the liberal establishment Democratic party".
And I did not like the politics. Not necessarily the revisiting of the Republican 2016 Greatest Hits (Sibelius, emails, Obamacare, Benghazi, Bo Bergdahl), or the lazy shortcuts about big government vs the panacaea of the free market and private enterprise. The author does not make any attempt to explain what his vision for conservatism actually is.
One example is the story about a town hall in Baltimore where he points out that the wealthy are sending their kids to well funded schools in the suburbs, while inner city schools are underfunded, due to education being a mandate funded by property taxes at a local level. I *agree* - I think most people would - that this is wrong. But the Republican party wants to gut the Department of Education, and send the education mandate back to the states. How does that do *anything* to provide more funding to inner city schools? Using local taxes for education is one of the most perverse injustices in the US. The people who most need funding get the least. The question is how to fix it? He presents no solution.
January 29, 2016
If you are into politics, this book is for you! Dan Bongino is a former Secret Service Agent who has made two bids to run for national office. His book, The Fight, is not only an inside look at life in and around the White House and security details for the President and other VIPs, he discusses in detail the obstacles thrown in his path by the "Establishment" politics as well as media bias that kept his message from getting the public attention it deserved and should have gotten in a media world that otherwise should be fair and impartial but isn't. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It gave me an insight to Washington and local politics that I have only known from the edges. More importantly, there are leadership lessons embedded in the book that anyone in business can learn from. It is a very enlightening and enjoyable book to read. Who should read it? Anyone interested in politics, interested in possibly running for a political office, anyone interested in improving their leadership styles and effectiveness and anyone who votes! That covers just about everyone.
June 13, 2016
This book got great reviews but I struggled..
It opened with a chapter about Dan losing his political campaign which I think set the mentality of “I’m mad so I’m going to write a book about what’s wrong with the Secret Service to show my hatred”. A Republican picking apart the Democrat president was also very prominent throughout the book. If you’re going to tell the readers that these problems have been happening for decades, then don’t point the blame on the White House under one President.
On a positive note, it was a bit interesting learning about the Secret Service. Some things I had always assumed and some things took me by surprise.
It opened with a chapter about Dan losing his political campaign which I think set the mentality of “I’m mad so I’m going to write a book about what’s wrong with the Secret Service to show my hatred”. A Republican picking apart the Democrat president was also very prominent throughout the book. If you’re going to tell the readers that these problems have been happening for decades, then don’t point the blame on the White House under one President.
On a positive note, it was a bit interesting learning about the Secret Service. Some things I had always assumed and some things took me by surprise.
April 4, 2018
question authority, not on my watch, abuse of power by irs gsa fbi cia hhs and more with bad atmosphere, media role to report though media conformance instead and no credibility, the left and Obama prefer sacrifice of others and throw anyone under the bus, facts be damned like Clinton debt from 4.4 to 5.8T, get big to save country.
December 4, 2017
I was hoping to get more of the inner working of the Secret Service but this seemed mainly to be a book to introduce Dan to voters so he can run for something.
January 7, 2023
I thought I wouldn't be able to finish this book, because Bongino was just going on and on about bureaucracy.
I've only read one other book in which there are paragraphs that extend more than a page over and over again: Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations." And this is a short book! Also, a little editing could have helped for other stylistic problems. How many times could he have used the same word more than once in the same sentence?
In the end, it is a pretty good book. It has energy, though it is a sort of "apology" for his two electoral defeats, Bongino demonstrates how he extracted victory - and knowledge - from defeat.
And the memories came flooding back for me, because Bongino mentioned his experience at Leisure World. My experience related to Leisure World was in no way similar to Bongino's, but it was definitely a learning experience.
These pages also stood out: "diffuse costs" vs. "concentrated interests" p. 110-111. "defacto secession" and Ron Paul p. 112.
I've only read one other book in which there are paragraphs that extend more than a page over and over again: Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations." And this is a short book! Also, a little editing could have helped for other stylistic problems. How many times could he have used the same word more than once in the same sentence?
In the end, it is a pretty good book. It has energy, though it is a sort of "apology" for his two electoral defeats, Bongino demonstrates how he extracted victory - and knowledge - from defeat.
And the memories came flooding back for me, because Bongino mentioned his experience at Leisure World. My experience related to Leisure World was in no way similar to Bongino's, but it was definitely a learning experience.
These pages also stood out: "diffuse costs" vs. "concentrated interests" p. 110-111. "defacto secession" and Ron Paul p. 112.
April 17, 2016
Based on the writing alone, the book probably deserves 3 stars. But because of the importance of the subject matter and the succinct way Bongino expresses key points, I give it 4 stars.
Dan Bongino is a class act, a rarity among those who run for Congress. In a short, interesting, easy-to-read book, Bongino lays out point after major point about where we are as a country. And we're not in a good place. What is so frustrating is that it is all fixable if only people would quit buying into the "us" versus "them" mentality. Grassroots Republicans are in open revolt against their "establishment" right now. Grassroots Democrats are getting there as well. It is time for the politicos to quit playing games. I'm afraid our time is getting short if we continue on the same path.
Dan Bongino is a class act, a rarity among those who run for Congress. In a short, interesting, easy-to-read book, Bongino lays out point after major point about where we are as a country. And we're not in a good place. What is so frustrating is that it is all fixable if only people would quit buying into the "us" versus "them" mentality. Grassroots Republicans are in open revolt against their "establishment" right now. Grassroots Democrats are getting there as well. It is time for the politicos to quit playing games. I'm afraid our time is getting short if we continue on the same path.
November 11, 2017
Coincidentally, I read this book and the author's first book at the same time. The first one ("Life Inside the Bubble") is more of a memoir while this one is his policy prescriptions for our nation. The other book is MUCH more readable. Whether this is due to his closer ties to the subject matter, having a better ghost writer, or having a better editor (or all three), I don't know. The meandering, clause-laden sentences in this book made me feel like I was wading through mud to get to the points Bongino was trying to make.
May 26, 2016
This was hard to get through. It's more about the author's political aspirations post Secret Service career.
August 25, 2024
I struggled to figure out what focus and purpose Dan Bongino had in writing this book. He really writes about three things but mixes them up together. He writes about his experiences as a secret service agent during the terms of Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. He does gives some great insights into the behind the scenes things and some of the failures of the agency. He also writes about his experiences as a political candidate, running for the U.S. Senate in Maryland in 2012 and for the U.S. House in Maryland's Sixth Congressional District in 2016. He also writes a campaign manual from his lessons learned in his two political campaigns, both of which ended in failure.
There is no doubt that each of these areas left an indeliable mark on Bongino, along with his experiences as a police officer for the NYPD, which he also eludes to. However, blending the political machine and the Secret Service failings doesn't work well in his case. The stories are great but they are all separate narratives. If he was doing a tell all on things he witnessed as an agent but kept the focus there, this would be an excellent read. However, a book about the political machine written by a failed candidate just isn't too compelling of a read. Just when we get a great story that captures interest, we read more mundane stuff about how to run a political campaign.
Overall, it was an okay read. The stories make up for the lack of focus.
There is no doubt that each of these areas left an indeliable mark on Bongino, along with his experiences as a police officer for the NYPD, which he also eludes to. However, blending the political machine and the Secret Service failings doesn't work well in his case. The stories are great but they are all separate narratives. If he was doing a tell all on things he witnessed as an agent but kept the focus there, this would be an excellent read. However, a book about the political machine written by a failed candidate just isn't too compelling of a read. Just when we get a great story that captures interest, we read more mundane stuff about how to run a political campaign.
Overall, it was an okay read. The stories make up for the lack of focus.
January 4, 2024
There was a lot of interesting information in here about how politics actually works, and the author can tell a good story. The only real problem I had with this book, as someone who's probably a bit left of center, was that it felt as though there were parts that were attacks on all lefties. Given who he is, it is unsurprising, but when he says things like all politicians are corrupt but only actually addresses particular politicians on the left, it feels sometimes disingenuous. The Clinton's and Obamas aren't the only problematic presidents; all are horribly problematic, and that's how they achieved the presidency in the first place. It was kind of a turn-off, but I'm probably not what he considers his target audience, so I get why he did it.
He can really tell a great story though, so I think his first book which is supposedly more of a biography might be my cup of tea.
He can really tell a great story though, so I think his first book which is supposedly more of a biography might be my cup of tea.
August 9, 2024
Read this book for my 2016 Book Challenge "A Political Memoir". You can tell a politician wrote it... One paragraph lasted from the end of page 138 to the top of 141. He easily could have sold ice to an Eskimo or a heater to an Arizonian.
The book started with him recounting his loss on becoming a congressman. It was a great first chapter and held promise for the rest of the book. It then evolved into a rant on his stint in the secret service and failures within the government, which he then tried to loop around to the reason behind his defeat.
It was interesting getting some inside stories but overall I felt as though it was a "poor me" tale with a ton of negativity tossed in.
The book started with him recounting his loss on becoming a congressman. It was a great first chapter and held promise for the rest of the book. It then evolved into a rant on his stint in the secret service and failures within the government, which he then tried to loop around to the reason behind his defeat.
It was interesting getting some inside stories but overall I felt as though it was a "poor me" tale with a ton of negativity tossed in.
December 30, 2021
I don’t read a lot of political books, so this was a new thing for me, and a bit outside my comfort zone at first. It helped a lot when he took a step back from the politics and focused on the Secret Service, more experiential, side of things. After a bit of that, I got into it a lot more and it went very quickly. I really appreciated his view and how he brings the reader/listener into situations with him, clearly explaining where he’s coming from and how certain decisions have had such profound effects. The teamwork ideal deeply resonated with me.
Overall, it was an interesting combination of political observations and high-stress job experiences, and I’m glad to have read it.
Overall, it was an interesting combination of political observations and high-stress job experiences, and I’m glad to have read it.
January 2, 2024
If you’re expecting a book about cool secret service agent stories, pick another book.
Horrid. The book’s front cover and full title are both part of a larger straw man fallacy for a Democratic Party beat down and Obama bash session. The book is a repetitive cycle of Republican Party praise and Democratic Party hate. Terrible argument style with poorly ordered logic, big jumps to conclusions, and a sprinkle of “know-it-all” arrogance. For the utopia he writes of, he sure does bash the Democratic Party for doing the same.
Horrid. The book’s front cover and full title are both part of a larger straw man fallacy for a Democratic Party beat down and Obama bash session. The book is a repetitive cycle of Republican Party praise and Democratic Party hate. Terrible argument style with poorly ordered logic, big jumps to conclusions, and a sprinkle of “know-it-all” arrogance. For the utopia he writes of, he sure does bash the Democratic Party for doing the same.
February 4, 2018
Excellent book explaining what the Secret Service does. Dan Bongino writes about his time with the service. He also writes about the good and the bad and how it can be improved. I also listen to Dan Bongino's Podcasts which are a good source for current events especially with what is happening at this time.
January 21, 2019
I found this book somewhat more revealing of an inside look at the Secret Service. Although not a true exposé of the Secret Service, it does a good job of describing the sorts of threats the Secret Service is charged with meeting, as well as the difficulties in meeting those threats, ending with offering proposed solutions. A good read.
October 24, 2023
An insider look at the Secret Service. If you’re looking for salacious details, it’s not in this book. I feel very depressed after reading it. This was written in 2015 and the massively overreaching government is much worse now. We may be past the tipping point of returning power to “We The People.”
January 4, 2018
Another vision of how to "drain the swamp" with a few SSPD "war stories" thrown in to give the book at least a little excitement...
March 8, 2018
This book is very much like his podcast, EXCELLENT! I would highly recommend this book and his podcast!
October 24, 2018
I got thru one chapter and gave up. Boring.
March 9, 2019
3.5 I was pleased with all the insight, i learned a lot, but didn't care for the author and tone...
July 20, 2019
- this book is a - snore
February 13, 2021
Great book!
October 17, 2021
Great look inside the what the secret service does and thier culture.
August 2, 2023
Good book. Bongino tells it like it is and doesn’t lie.
January 27, 2024
Very interesting book. Bongino covers a lot of ground like what it's like being a secret service agent to advice on how to run a poolitical campaign.
May 27, 2024
For me, it was boring. It talked a lot about how bad and mess up the US government is/was.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews