Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor

by Matthew Latimer

From a top speechwriter to President George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld, this may be the most deliciously candid memoir ever written about official Washington—a laugh-out-loud cri de coeur that shows what can happen to idealism in a town driven by self-interest. 
 
Despite being raised by reliably liberal parents, Matt Latimer is, from an early age, lured by the upbeat themes of the Reagan Revolution and, in the tradition of Mary Tyler Moore, sets off from the Midwest for the big city, determined to "make it after all."  In Matt's glory-filled daydreams, he will champion smaller government and greater self-sufficiency, lower taxes and stronger defense—and, by the force of his youthful passion, eradicate do-nothing boondoggleism and lead America to new heights of greatness.

But first he has to find a job.

 Like an inside-the-Beltway Dante, Matt chronicles his descent into Washington, D.C., hell, as he snares a series of increasingly lofty—but unsatisfying—jobs with powerful figures on Capitol Hill. One boss can't remember basic facts. Another appears to hide from his own staff, barricading himself in his office. When Fate offers Matt a job as chief speechwriter for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Matt finds he actually admires the man (causing his liberal friends to shake their heads in dismay), his youthful passion is renewed. But Rummy soon becomes a piñata for the press, and the Department of Defense is revealed as alarmingly dysfunctional.

 Eventually, Matt lands at the White House, his heart aflutter with the hope that, here at last, he can fulfill his dream of penning words that will become part of history— and maybe pick up some cool souvenirs. But reality intrudes once again. More like The Office than The West Wing, the nation's most storied office building is a place where the staffers who run the country are in way over their heads, and almost everything the public has been told about the major players—Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Rove—is wrong.

 Both a rare behind-the-scenes account that boldly names the fools and scoundrels, and a poignant lament for the principled conservatism that disappeared during the Bush presidency, Speech-less will forever change the public's view of our nation's capital and the people who joust daily for its power. 

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Biography, Memoir, Presidents, History

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Lynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do not share the political views of latimer, and I am certain that affected my appreciation of this book. I did not enjoy the barbs aimed at people in my party. On the other hand, he did not write this book as an idealogue. He does think for himself, and I admire that. He expressed candor even with respect to republicans, to an extent. He admires only those who he views as true conservative republicans. Late in the book, he compares the passion that gripped many upon the rise to popularity of Barack Obama to the way he felt when he first saw Bob Dole, and that was really a "huh??? moment for me. The book did give me a glimpse into the insider views of some moments I clearly remember, and that was fascinating. I did find this book less offensive and more candid than many written by people on the right. I enjoyed also his depiction of George W. Bush as a human being. I view him as one of the worst presidents we have ever had, and I appreciated seeing the human side. I also was fascinated by his observations of Karl Rove, Condy Rice, Rumsfeld and Gates. Very much worth reading.

[Tami · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eye opening view of the US elected officials. I enjoyed Mr. Latimer's account of achieving his dream on becoming a speech writer for the White House staff and what it was really like behind the scenes during the Bush Administration. He became disillusioned with the GOP party and didn't we all? Some of his idols turned out to be not so nice after all. I enjoyed his insight, wit and writing style.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whereas Noonan had her What I Saw at the Revolution, Latimer has his what in the world am I doing here? Latimer served as a speechwriter in House and Senate offices before moving to the Department of Defense as Donald Rumsfeld's speechwriter and finally to his dream job: presidential speechwriter, during the final years of President Bush's 2nd term. His account is funny, engaging, and sometimes saddening. Latimer clearly respects Rumsfeld a lot, but found himself disillusioned by a White House that lacked principles and coherence. The one strange thing about this tale is that Latimer sometimes presents people he didn't respect as too liberal and presents other such people as too conservative. We are left to wonder what Latimer's principles are, though smaller government certainly seems to be one of them. The whole book moves fast, but the fastest moving part is near the end when Latimer is discussing how the October 2008 economic "bailout" came to be, how few understood it, and how the White House worked to try to explain what it didn't understand. We are left, ultimately, with an unflattering picture of our federal government. Many insider books are flattering to the point of embarrassment and lacking in substance to the point of worthlessness. This is not one of those books. Latimer is blunt and honest.

[Ali · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are a lot of books coming out right now by White House staffers during the Obama administration, and I've already read several of them. So I thought, in fairness, it would be good to read some by staff of previous administrations, to appreciate how, regardless of political positions, there would be a shared sense of passion and doing the best for one's country. This book.....was not a good call for accomplishing that goal.

Matthew Latimer is an arrogant, petty, mean spirited, self centered prick. He doesn't like or respect much of anyone, and even those he pretends to like at first, he really is hero-worshiping, to then become disillusioned by any indication they're, gasp, human, and turn on them viciously. His writing style is weak and his personality is even weaker. This man had a front row seat to witness the workings of the most powerful institution in the US and all I learned from his ~300 page book was how insufferable a person he is.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admittedly partisan in its approach, Latimer's book is still an entertaining insider account of a niche career field in a niche industry. As a former speechwriter myself, I could identify with almost all of his stories to some degree and felt both sympathy and empathy along the way.

His focus on interpersonal relationships cut to the core of what speechwriting is all about--giving your principal the best opportunity to be the best version of themselves, often without speaking directly with them. In the end, most endeavors in life come down to relationships and speechwriting is no different. He also clearly brings out some of the most important relationships--those of key individuals who are not your principal, but may have even more access and influence than you do.

For anyone considering doing something similar in Washington D.C., read this book first.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent memoir by a fellow who always wanted to work in the White House, but who found it a disappointing and disillusioning experience when he did! He also worked at the Pentagon, and his comments about the then-Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, are particularly interesting - he seems to have genuinely liked "Rummy", who does not come across as the ogre a lot of people seem to think he was. What emerges very strongly is Latimer's sense of being let down by the leadership of the Republican party he had supported for years. But I feel this is an excellent read, even if you don't agree with his politics.

[Ernst · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conservative, idealistic coming of age story, with a lot of bitterness toward Karl Rove, Condi Rice, especially John McCain, and even more especially against "cleaners" -- those people who try to make things work instead of implementing strict ideological theories. Written in 2009 and already indicating that immigration was a promising issue for Republicans. Speechwriter for Rumsfeld and briefly for George W Bush. Idealism is attractive, but it has to be challenged, grow, and be informed by reality to be useful.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Utterly horrifying

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting to read a tale from the inside. I appreciate the honesty of Latimer and his diplomacy in revealing what I long suspected was at the heart of DC politics, though I assume this might be slightly self serving. One needs to drop names to be believable.
I can only imagine there are plenty more tales like this to tell. It is all pretty obvious from the outside.
It will be interesting to learn what Latimer does next in his life. Given his law degree, I am sure he covered his bases when writing this. I would still like to believe he is entirely sincere and does have a strong moral core that will withstand any momentary assault by ones ego..... He has a belief which he stands by which is nice to see whether I share his belief or not.

Note: I listened to the audio version of this book because it happened to be available for check out. Living in DC for 4 years was more than enough exposure to our depressing political machine for my lifetime. I am not one who usually cares about this sort of thing. That said - no regrets on this enjoyable read that was just enough.

[Gentry · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm 20% through and starting to get the uncomfortable feeling that this book is entirely a self-indulgent self biography, as opposed to an expose on the inner workings of the White House and Washington by someone who might know. Thus far, the most damning insight about how congress works is that they use autopen machines. What's worse is the author is truly unlikeable. His attempts at sarcasm are boyish, his anecdotes punch-less, and his self-deprecation insincere. So far, there is no wisdom here, nor any likable character. One might get the sense from the tone of the title of the book and it's cover synopsis that the author is a rare republican who saw the inadequacies and inefficiencies of his own leadership. One might then presume he had been changed by these experiences. One would be disappointed, for sure. So far, this is a wholly confused book about a guy who grew up with a rather obtuse sense of conservatism (read: his idea of a true conservative is as much about hair style, dress, and demeanor as it is about "principles"), happened to personally not like some of the players, and chose to write a book about them and call them out individually, in a rather crude and clumsy way. The people he seems to like might seem rather awful to many readers, and the people he denigrates don't necessarily deserve his scorn, if he were to apply his judgments consistently to everyone. Read, even casually, I can't escape the mild sense of vengeance in this book. I say mild because so far, there is absolutely nothing scathing about it. If I had to guess I would say the author was probably 18 years old. I know this can't be true, but I won't be bothered looking up his age because I just don't care enough. This book has put me into a deep malaise and I just want to watch TV and eat a donut.

On top of it all, it is absolutely the poorest attempt at writing in the form of storytelling I have ever read. I'm 20% through this book and I'm praying that my Kindle dies. I can understand his intentions, but they are all delivered flatly. The anecdotes, the humor, all flat. The story is truly boring, he possesses a raging, yet denied bias, he has a thin vocabulary, and what he considers sarcasm and wit are really just puns and lame one-liners. This is the annoying guy at the party that you want to root for because he doesn't get it, but turns out to be an asshole, so you just don't care. He's also a card carrying unquestioning regan republican who likely doesn't understand what that really means AS a republican or TO any intelligent person.

All of this, and at just 20% through the book. I beg of you, if you are considering reading this book, please, don't.

The End

[Mazola1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Speech-less proves that the gods must have a perverse sense of humor. Matt Latimer, a true believer Reagan Republican with a burning ambitition to become a presidential speechwriter, achieved that life long goal -- and ended up writing speeches for George W. Bush during the horrible last year of his presidency. Latimer's disillusionment with Washington, Bush and the Republican party is palpable and infuses his highly readable and gossipy book. Latimer's view of politics is cynical, sarcastic and filled with fascinating observations about how Washington really works.

Perhaps Latimer's book also proves that's what's really sharper than the serpent's tooth is the ire that the idealogical purist reserves for the pragmatist. Latimer refers to those centrist political figures that aren't driven by idealogy and sometimes even serve in either a Republican or a Democratic administration (such as Robert Gates or David Gergen) as "cleaners." It's not meant as a compliment, but maybe it should be. These are the people that get things done and are often called upon by presidents to clean up the messes made by their less competent but more politically pure collegues. In other words, the people who actually make things work and get things done.

Latimer, a small government, tax cuts Republican, doesn't hide the fact that he didn't respect the president he worked for, and regarded him as his administration as something akin to bumbling sell-outs. For instance, he writes of Karl Rove that he was "not...the brilliant behind-the-scenes strategist. He was what all the liberals said he was: the villian [and:] a clumsy one at that." If that sounds like the angry lament of the true believer whose idealism has been shaken by the messy reality of how things really work, well, it is.

In the end, Latimer admits he lost such faith in the Republican party he'd always believed in that he wasn't sure he was a Republican anymore. Cynical and disillusioned, he seriously considered voting for Obama. Whether he did or not is left wrapped in ambiguity. What isn't ambiguous is how painful the journey of the true believer was for one very angry, former presidential speechwriter.

[J Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great look at the inner workings of the Bush Administration, presented by a loyal speechwriter within the administration. While this work is a fairly non-partisan book, it does come from a conservative author. While the author had obviously drank the kool-aid, it did not prevent him from presenting a critical and thoughtful examination of what happened during the Bush tenure. I believe the author’s background has a great deal of impact on his political slant, but it never interfered with his ability to reason. Born in Flint Michigan, he saw the worst that the Democratic leadership could offer, and, like any rebellious youth, he joined the opposing team in protest. I believe that the author’s formative years allowed him to recognize the mess that the administration had created. None of the leaders in the Bush administration were the evil characters that the media and opposing faction made them out to be; however, they were a little too human.

Like everyone in this world, they surrounded themselves with people that made them feel a bit better about themselves. Indeed, this was yet another book where I found myself respecting President Bush, as I have respected all of our Presidents, just a bit more. As I have often stated, Bush simply had too much trust in his advisors and allowed too many unqualified people in office because of their ideological slant. Near the end of the book, White House insiders actually discussed the fact that 23% of American’s still believed we were on the right track in late 2008. They could not figure out who these people could possibly be, and chalked it up to blind ideology. Many staffers realized it was time to get over the ideological divides that had caused the mess. Many also realized the John McCain was just not the right person for the office, party be damned. This is a lesson that far more people on both sides of the isle need to absorb, and this is why I read works like this.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I presume you have to pledge some shocking revelations to get a contract for one of these "what I saw" books. This one seems to have slipped through those cracks. Revelations are often humorous (i.e. Kay Hutchinson Bailey's purse attendants) or tend to re-enforce known characteristics (Karl Rove "Never give an inch') and are thankfully free of gratuitous swipes.

Matt Latimer tells how as a kid he idolized political conservatives instead of Rock Stars. His parents, like most people in his home town of Flint, MI were staunch Democrats.

Upon getting his law degree, Matt shunned a corporate career to work as a Congressional Aide from which he graduates to Senatorial Aide and eventually to White House Speechwriter. With humor, he describes the people and process of the different working environments. He writes of big time politics and plain old office politics. He crosses paths with his childhood heroes and their luster fades.

He draws his portraits of people and events through anecdotes. He describes the Department of Defense's 100 person press operation and why it can't produce a list of heroes. To visit Condi Rice, you have to find someone at the Department of State who knows where her office is. When you get there its like a scene from Jane Austin. Secy. Rumsfeld is open and friendly but edits his speeches through back and forth text. I was surprised to read how closely Pres. Bush read his speeches and how thoroughly they were vetted. Not much is left to chance at the White House.

The few insights that make this a "tell all" are at the end where Latimer decides that George Bush is not a true conservative and Karl Rove a manipulative control freak.

There are several out loud laughs here and a lot of chuckles. This is not an essential read for those interested in politics, but is a lot of fun.

[Steven Yenzer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a few main issues with Speech-Less


Latimer has exactly the humor you'd expect of a young Republican. Basically, white-bread Dad humor. The stuff he finds hilarious is mildly funny. At best. He also makes a goodly number of references to Star Wars and other nerdy IPs throughout the book, but they're often inapt. For example, he compares meeting one of his Republican heroes to meeting C-3PO. There's no connection between 3PO and this figure, in personality or otherwise — Latimer just choses the android as a famous character. It's weird.
Latimer really dislikes Democrats, and almost never says anything good about them (with the notable exception of Barack Obama). It wouldn't be so bad if his criticisms didn't seem so petty — for example, noting how Nancy Pelosi rides around in an SUV while campaigning against global warming. You'd think after a decade in Washington, Latimer would realize that Democrats don't have a monopoly on hypocrisy.
Similarly, Latimer really dislikes almost everyone in Washington. In his view of the nation's capital, everyone but him (and a few of his friends and heroes) are power-hungry, mean-spirited, back-stabbing hypocrites. I don't doubt it, but I also don't trust that Latimer is a lily-white idealist who never did anything he was ashamed of. According to Speech-Less, St. Peter will wave Latimer right through at the gates of heaven, because the former speechwriter's record appears to be clean as a whistle.

I found the book fairly interesting and quick to read. Latimer is a mediocre but serviceable writer. If there were more books written by modern White House speechwriters, I would say you can leave this one on the shelf, but the market is pretty barren.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't help but wonder how many of the lower ratings were based on political beliefs. I am not affiliated with either party, but I can see how Dems and Repubs both could find something to be offended by. Latimer's story isn't a "Washington insider" kind of memoir. It's more of a story about a MidWestern idealistic kid who made his way to the White House and left as a disillusioned political veteran. It's one man's story, and I enjoyed reading it. After his years as a speechwriter, it's easy to see who he has the greatest respect for, and others not so much.

There are two things that bother me after finishing the book. He became a White House speechwriter with less than 2 years remaining in Bush's term. I think that is a big caveat here, although it's not really acknowledged as such. The administration had weathered 6 years already. Had his experience in the White House began in 2000 with Inauguration, his experience would likely be very different. At times he's disappointed in his own party, but he walked into the White House fresh faced and idealistic at a time when the administration had been through 6 years of beatdown. we've all seen the before/after pics of U.S. presidents. Bush had a lot of miles on him by the time Latimer showed up ready to change the world. So, that's one thing that bothered me. The other thing - he was way too hard on Jimmy Carter. I understand how conservatives feel about President Carter b/c my family feels the same way. But how about a caveat there, too? Politics aside, Jimmy Carter has proven to be an exceptional human being with all of his humanitarian work around the world. Doesn't that count for anything in the conservative's bio of the man?

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting read. Latimer has great insight and humor into the frustrating world of government bureaucracy and office politics. He shares remarkable and memorable anecdotes about various Congressmen, Don Rumsfeld, Karl Rove, and President Bush. Latimer vigorously defends Rumsfeld, who comes off well in the book, but he also tends to gloss over or seem willfully ignorant as to why there was such outrage. Latimer then also complains at length about all the "cleaners" that came in towards the end of the Bush administration to clean it up.

Unfortunately Latimer's personal politics place this book in ground that is self-contradictory. He is a "movement conservative" true believer so he wants ideologues at the helm - as opposed to centrist types like Def. Sec. Gates, who he labels "cleaners." And yet most of his anecdotes highlight the terrible decision making that comes with having ideologues running the show - most in particularly promoting unqualified people based on ideological litmus tests. Ironically Bush himself comes off looking the best - but Latimer had become disenchanted because non-ideological governance was to him a betrayal of the conservative movement.

In all, it's a page turning entertaining book that's often funny and has nuggets of great Washington wisdom, but it's not internally consistent.

[Elaine Meszaros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matt Latimer is one of those fortunates who has a dream, a plan and the ability to reach his goals. Not so fortunately, once he obtained his dream job, he found his dream was not all he had hoped. A political junkie and the only conservative in a family of liberals, Latimer single-mindedly worked his way up he political ladder, starting as a speechwriter for minor politicians. But when his his uber-goal of working as a speech-writer for the POTUS comes true, Latimer was thrown into the fast-disintegrating world of George W. Bush's regime. The politicians and law-makers were nothing like Latimer had imagined. Their behavior is often bizarre and irrational; they have little knowledge of many of the topics of the day. Finding words to make them sound intelligent is often an extreme challenge. Aids and advisors are often just as confused as the politicians the work for:

"In the middle of explaining the economic horrors that awaited us, Keith reached for something near his chair. It was a Musketeer cap. As in Mickey Mouse... Without an word of explanation, he placed the cap on his head. Then he continued talking as if nothing at all strange was happening...As we sat there on the top floor of the White House, at the center of power, I couldn't help wondering how it had all come to this."

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting memoir by a kid from Flint, Michigan who realized his dream of becoming a speechwriter for the president. Matt Latimer started his career in Washington with the forgettable but unforgivable Spence Abraham, moving his way up through the ranks to become Donald Rumsfeld's chief speechwriter, and then a member of the speechwriting staff of George W. Bush. THere is a lot of Washington gossip here as well as some interesting 'behind the scenes' takes on some of the biggest controversies of the Bush years.

Some surprising things that I've learned, in no particular order:

1. Ann Coulter is 'nice'.
2. Dick Cheney - also 'nice'.
3. Latimer at one point insinuates that Bush didn't care a whit about any of his domestic policy initiatives, except for immigration policy. Interesting, and not at all comforting.

This book was both funny and interesting. Latimer is a little too partisan at times, bashing McCain (he hates McCain) for his maverick ways, taking cheap shots at Nancy Pelosi, but otherwise this seemed like an honest account. I am glad Latimer has left politics and I hope that he succeeds in Hollywood, if that is infact where he is headed.

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting behind the scenes look at a life in politics. Although the author credits his decision to write a memoir to the inspirational memoirs of other political speechwriters that he read as a child and which prompted him to become a speechwriter, his is not that kind of story. It's more of a cautionary tale about politics and the gradual replacement of idealism with cynical disinterest.

There were a number of laugh out loud moments, though, and Latimer's writing is very good. This quote stood out to me:

"Many people envision life in the West Wing as something akin to the old Aaron Sorkin TV show: where attractive young people walk briskly through the halls and discuss matters of great importance with snappy dialogue and sexual tension.... In the real West Wing few people moved with any sense of urgency. Our dialogue was rarely snappy or clever.... And not one of the speechwriters bore even a slight resemblance to Rob Lowe. We were more like Rob Lowe's cousins - the ones who didn't go out much."

[Meredith M · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining, informative read and not just because I would rather Donald Trump be teaching Jazzercise right now...thanks for that enduring image.

Annabel Crabb mentioned this book to Leigh Sales some time ago. If you haven't checked out their podcast, chat10looks3.com.au (that's number 10 and number 3 in digits) There is a link on the website to everything they talk about in each episode. If you like the podcast please go and give them a review on iTunes. I haven’t, I don’t use iTunes but I’ve got your back partway, Brendan/Phil.

Leigh starts episode 3 with show tunes and they talk about Portuguese tarts. I think they did eventually arrive at a bakery to eat some but you'll have to listen to episode 4 to find out whether these were Portuguese custard tarts or only custard tarts. I like both but there is a difference. You'll also find solace in a community of readers who mispronounce words they have only ever read but do not use. I was happy before I took down a few book recommendations for an 'insider' read.

[JHM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read a lot about politics, but I really enjoyed this autobiographical account of a passionate young Republican who went to Washington, DC and became first an aide to a senator, then eventually a speechwriter for Donald Rumsfeld and then President Bush.

The picture he paints of behind-the-scenes government is both funny and frightening. Latimer seems to paint a fairly clear-eyed and even-handed portrait of the various officials and staff members he works with, not making himself into a hero, just a dedicated person trying to do his best for his bosses and the country.

His observations about what the various White House personnel thought about the McCain-Palin campaign were especially interesting to me, as was his story about visiting Abu Ghraib with Rumsfeld.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has the slightest interest in what happens behind the "curtain" of the US federal government.

[Becki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based soley on the first half of this book, it would have probably received 4 stars from me. However the last half of the book is the reason it only received 3 stars. i enjoyed this book. For many, it is an eye opening revelation to how our government works. While my mouth was agape at reading parts of it, i have studied politics for many years and was not surprised at much of it. The first half was a good story on the inner workings of congress and the pentagon. The second half, after he got to the White House, seemed to be more about his opinion was always right and how his speeches were the best. i don't enjoy reading people gloat about their work. I would recommend this book to folks, just so they can see the things that our tax dollars pay for, and why cuts need to be made internally, not on programs helping people, like medicare!!!

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A memoir about the inner workings of the George W. Bush White House in its last two years, written from the perspective of one of the President's speech writers. Matt Latimer grew up in a liberal household, but embraced conservative ideals as a boy and realized his ambition to write speeches for Republicans in Congress, the Defense Department (Donald Rumsfeld for three years) and the White House (W for about two years). It's interesting and depressing to see how ordinary many elected officials are, and Latimer doesn't pull any punches when chronicling his experiences with people he didn't respect (see the chapter on Karl Rove as the key example). An OK book, but Latimer isn't explicit about his own philosophy of government and that flattened the mood for me.

[Voracious_reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was funny and I was entertained--more by the personal story than by the politic insights. I'm not sure that Latimer was all that fair or insightful because I don't know enough about the individuals he wrote of (from other multiple sources that is), but I liked the self-deprecating humor, particularly the early portions of his book about his family and childhood. What the latter portions of the book lack is a real sense of humility or modesty and perhaps perspective. Almost all of the speech writing portions concern instances where his advice wasn't accepted and things turned out poorly as a result, or conversely his advice was accepted and things turned out great. He's still one smart and interesting dude though.

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's very grim, in its own way - it's a picture of disillusionment as much as anything else. But it's also very interesting and behind-the-scenes-y, which I enjoy. This was released in 2009 and it definitely shows - the political feel of this book very early Obama. Latimer's own ideologies aren't really distracting - it's about his work, not his politics. This is very much a memoir, as opposed to a tell-all or expose or even respectful study on his role as a speechwriter. Latimer has a lot of bitterness for Bush (who wasn't conservative enough for him) as well as for anyone he felt didn't measure up to his standards of pure motivation. This makes for a pretty sneering, snarky look at Washington, but no less enjoyable for that.

[Tamarind · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was first introduced to this book by Matthew Latimer's interview on NPR. I liked the fact that he was a Republican but was still able to give perspective of working for such high powered people. The book chronicles his work on the Hill, the Pentagon (for Rumsfeld), and then in the George W. Bush White House. I would've been just as interested if it was a Democrat giving a critical view of a Democratic presidency. I really appreciated Latimer's favorable view of Rumsfeld, and it helped put him in a different light for me. Honestly, by the time he got to the White House, the book wasn't as interesting, and I feel that's because it was very anticlimatic for Latimer.

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 3 out of 5]

A humorous insightful look "inside" D.C. politics from the perspective of a political junkie whose goal is to work in the White House. Along the way he works for a local Michigan congressman and Senator Jon Kyl, before being hired as a speech writer for the the Department of Defense where he works for Donald Rumsfeld and then finally achieves his goal of working as a speech writer for George W. Bush. Although my political persuasions are at the opposite end of the spectrum, Latimer does a good job of "humanizing" his employers, pointing out their strengths as well as weaknesses.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I don't share some of the political views of the author, I thought this was an interesting book to read. He describes various jobs working on Capitol Hill, and as a speech writer for the Secretary of Defense. From the Pentagon, the author moved on to the White House where he worked as a speech writer. The author gave readers a good sense of what the jobs were really like, and I enjoyed reading about the personalities of the various government officials. The author's sense of dismay with the world of politics grows as the book progresses.

[Melina · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a piece of writing, this was wonderfully done. It was engaging and funny with interesting characters and just enough pokes to make you think Latimer won't be getting a job with certain people in the future. Was it all true? I doubt it. Latimer comes across as the ultimate unreliable narrator - extremely comfortable with his own brilliance and similarly sure that no one else was really as good as him.

In the end though, he tells a fantastic story. Apply a pinch of salt to it and enjoy the read.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book even though I generally have little interest in politics. I think the reviews it got for being vindictive or full of gossip were made by people who didn't actually read it. The author portrays the human side of many of the political figures that the nation came to despise. It definitely helped me realize that not all republicans are selfish moralists, those are just the republicans that I know.