Night of camp david download pdf

Instead it's seen as a civic duty to stop a madman from having control of nuclear weapons. Besides the humor of eerie parallels, it's also kind of sad.

There is lots of casual misogyny but it's also seen as a stumbling block to power the hero can put aside of ever hoping to run for president or vice president in the future because of the affair. Graft and pocketing money from positions of power is also seen as a reason for resignation, when now not the case. The book wrapped up a lot sooner than I thought it would because it is also seen as anathema to not put the country before party or personal consideration.

The cliche of "Truth is stranger than fiction" still applies--but this was a quick and pretty fun read. Nov 26, Tiffany rated it it was ok Shelves: fiction. Come for the story of a paranoid, mentally incompetent president, stay for the yuck-yuck racism and unapologetic sexism? People may come to this novel looking for some suggestions for dealing with our current crisis or simply as an old-fashioned political thriller, but I don't think it satisfies on either front.

Of course I totally get why this book has been republished in our current times as we struggle with questions about the mental state and fitness for office of our the current White House Come for the story of a paranoid, mentally incompetent president, stay for the yuck-yuck racism and unapologetic sexism? Of course I totally get why this book has been republished in our current times as we struggle with questions about the mental state and fitness for office of our the current White House resident.

But this is ultimately an unsatisfying read in modern times. It's not going to point us in any helpful directions. This is a story of a competent president who is experiencing a decline but ultimately cares about what is best for the country. That is not the case with our current president. In this novel, out of control wire tapping and FBI abuse of power is a scandal.

Again, not the case with our country today. If you read it simply as a political thriller, even if you can get over the Chekhov mentioned a gun but I think if you introduce missing mental health medical records in the first act, you should use them by the third.

Finally, there is "the way things were. I could have happily lived the rest of my life without reading Martha apologize to her husband for driving him into the arms of another woman with all of the committee work that kept her from home! Interestingly, Knebel seems to want to semi-acknowledge racism, but the late-breaking introduction of "the negro senator" from Chicago, engaging in friendly banter with the segregationist from Louisiana, didn't do much for me.

All that being said, given our current political reality, I don't think anything could have kept me from picking this up. It's a quick read, but ultimately an unsatisfying one. Fast-moving and thought-provoking. I'm so glad it's not relevant to anything going on in the world today. Jun 24, Abigail Bok rated it really liked it. This was an almost-thrill for me. The writing was competent and sometimes insightful; the author had a way with imagery that rarely felt stale and often surprised. And the premise is a whopper: what do you do if you think the president of the United States is insane?

This is the dilemma faced by a junior senator from Iowa, Jim MacVeagh. The year is somewhere in the s the book was published in ; the administration is Democratic but not Lyndon Johnson's. The president has summoned the sen This was an almost-thrill for me. The president has summoned the senator to Camp David to shoot the breeze and to dangle the idea that he might choose MacVeagh to replace the current vice-president when he runs for reelection.

But the conversation goes askew and MacVeagh leaves distinctly uneasy. Subsequent events do not make him feel any better, and before he knows it he's plunged into a terrible dilemma--one that brings down upon him the scrutiny of both the FBI and the Secret Service. In trying to do the right thing he finds himself getting into deeper and deeper trouble, till his own career is threatened, not to mention his family and his comfortable life.

If this sounds like a thriller, it's not quite, more of a political procedural. I found the details of Washington absorbing and only occasionally dated, and the implications of the dilemma fascinating. For just one instance, if three people in the government are responsible for deciding, together, to launch a nuclear weapon and one of those people is insane, how do you insulate the decision-making process from that person?

Especially if that person is the ultimate decider, the president? Enough to make your hair stand on end. All that said, I was disappointed by the ending. Things could have gone much worse than they did, and as a reader I wanted them to. Of course, if this had been an account of real events, I would have been grateful! It all rather petered out. But the first three-quarters of the book really held me. View 2 comments. Dec 28, Tim Petersik rated it it was amazing.

What does a lawmaker do when he's convinced the president of the United States is insane? Here's a plausible scenario. Older book, but still relevant and thrilling. Nov 03, Amy rated it it was ok. What the hell, Grandma. Nov 27, Charlie rated it it was ok Shelves: politics. The book is very dated.

It's chief interest is as a reminder of what sexual mores were like in the mid's. Even though I lived through the era, it is hard to remember how, for want of a better term, patriarchal it was. As for the political message: The story probably was powerful in its day - do we have the wherewithal to deal with a mad president? However, it is hard to treat the fictional President Hollenbach as mad -- on one of his good days, Trump makes Hollenbach seem the picture of sanit The book is very dated.

However, it is hard to treat the fictional President Hollenbach as mad -- on one of his good days, Trump makes Hollenbach seem the picture of sanity. What I take as the message now, is not that the book is prophetic, but that it shows how low we've fallen. In the fiction, members of his own party band together out of concern for the nation to take a mentally incapacitated president down.

Now, it is members of his own party who prop up an arguably unqualified and possibly mentally incapacitated president as long as he advances their agenda and has the support of their party's base. Jan 05, Stewart Sternberg rated it really liked it. It is sheer folly to have that man anywhere near the command and control machinery. It might lead to wholesale murder.

Throughout this entire novel I couldn't help thinking about Donald Trump. At least in the novel, the president's mental disorder was something hidden away, for the most part. In Trump's case, it's paraded around on television and Twitter like a daily drama. Or comedy. Or horror story. Take your pick. Aug 25, Joe rated it really liked it. This is a political thriller written in about a young senator who begins to suspect that the President of the United States has gone insane.

The first clue? The president wants to enact a federal wiretapping law that would let him listen in on and store the phone conversations of US citizens. Crazy, right? This book, published in , has been reissued because it involves a President who goes nuts. So, the re-release is a political statement.

The story isn't bad. The writing is very 65'ish. View 1 comment. Dec 25, Misfit marked it as did-not-finish. Nothing happened. While there, the President states that using wiretaps on every phone in America is a good way to prevent crime.

He then goes on a paranoid rant against his own Vice President, OMalley. He asks Jim what he thinks of various alternatives he is considering as running mates for his reelection campaign. One of the alternatives is Jim himself. Soon afterwards, Jim breaks it off with Rita. As the President gets increasingly paranoid, he floats many plans to remove rights from the American people beginning with freedom of the press. He also sleeps less and less while becoming moody. When he talks of merging with Canada and Scandinavia, Jim believes he speaking about conquering those countries.

It is then that Jim concluded the President is insane. It is still a topical book even if it is written in a slower pace than current thrillers. Sep 30, Carla Coon rated it liked it. It was a good read altogether. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough sympathy for Jim Mcveigh's character.

The president and his crazy ideas were portrayed well. Too, the inner workings of Washington and secret meetings within the Democratic party leaders were well done. The ending was anti-climatic for me. I think the author could have gone somewhere exciting threat-wise, the president's finger on the butto It was a good read altogether. I think the author could have gone somewhere exciting threat-wise, the president's finger on the button wise. Could have written a fictional Cuban Missile Crisis type thing where only a few are aware of the danger.

Well written, easy to read. Aug 08, Ruth Chatlien rated it liked it. This novel was recently reissued, apparently in an bid to capitalize on the current fears by some, at least of damage to the country over having an unstable person in the White House. It ably lays out some constitutional issues although contemporary readers are likely to find the exposition too long and detailed but ultimately the ending falls flat, and the book is less than satisfying.

Jan 13, Beth rated it really liked it. The tagline of this book is "What would happen if the President of the U. The author obviously saw what is going on in this country and churned out a timely novel to address the issue and—what? What's that you say? This book was first published in ? Get out! It's true. He tries to convince a few other key players one is a Supreme Court justice named Cavanaugh I'm not kidding but his alarm convinces them only of the Senator's own precarious state of mind.

As one character muses, who is going to tell the President that he is sick? Because it's a mid-century novel, there is the usual nonsense about women. I found it interesting that none of the major players in this book are female. All the women are either devoted political wives or a mistress, and one of the wives takes the blame for her husband having an affair. It made me curious about the makeup of the House and Senate in 2. We've come a long way, baby! If this book were written in this time period, you can bet it would have a very different tone.

I recommend this, but it will give you an eerie feeling, one almost of dread. As the book's Justice Cavanaugh says, "With all these nukes, push buttons and go-codes, we just can't afford any presidential 'hiatus from normality,' if I can phrase it that way. Dec 01, Christopher Saunders rated it it was ok Shelves: reads. Availability can change throughout the month based on the library's budget.

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A promising young Senator finds himself obliged to put his future on the line when he realises that the popular President may be suffering a mental breakdown. Some good discussion of the Constitutional issues, especially with t regard to the shortcomings of the 25th Amendment in dealing with anything as complex as a mental ailment. Perhaps events of the last couple of years have brought it back to my mind. Only criticism is that the ending is a little too pat.

They get rid of Hollenbach altogether too easily. I'm pretty sure that had a real paranoid found a bunch of pols discussing how to remove him from office, his reaction would have been altogether different. But don't let that spoil it for you. It's still well worth a read. Books for People with Print Disabilities.