The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis
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Web ID: 10918564Eye-Opening
I enjoy books that teach me about things I probably should already know, especially when they make my jaw drop. This book seems to only scratch the surface of understanding just how wholly unprepared Trump was to manage this government and how little progress was made for the first couple of years. While this was published in 2018 many of the topics have an ominous feel including finding out just how little science matters to the people currently running the government. It also invigorates an appreciation for government employees who truly care for their work - their mission. I would consider this a must-read for any American who wants to learn.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
The failure of leadership—a narrative analysis
While you will likely recognize the name Chris Christie—whom Donald Trump appointed to head his transition team and then promptly fired when he discovered that Christie was doing the job properly and in accordance with federal guidelines—the names John MacWilliams, Ali Zaidi, Kevin Concannon, Cathie Wotecki, Lillian Salerno, Kathy Sullivan, DJ Patil, David Freidberg, Kim Klockow, Lonnie Risenhoover, and Art Allen are probably unknown to you. They are all citizens who worked for various government agencies and Cabinet departments (Agriculture, Commerce), possessed valuable knowledge about their jobs, and displayed strong commitments to their service to the American people. They all believed that the mission of American government lies in its dedication to improving the lives of the American people. And they were all devalued, ignored, and dismissed by the Trump Administration. In this well-written volume, Michael Lewis tells their stories and thus illustrates the purposeful manner in which the Trump administration has stripped the government of its ability to support and enrich the lives of its citizens. In telling the stories of these individuals—who were all released from their duties with no opportunity to pass along to their successors (if the Trump administration even bothered to appoint one) the hard-earned knowledge and expertise they had collected—Lewis shows how an ideology of ignorance and an abdication of responsibility has infected the way the Executive branch operates. The important point here is that the fifth risk of the title—a quality as mundane as project management—threatens a broad spectrum of American life. As Lewis argues, the inability of leaders to imagine and prepare for imminent dangers (such as, for example, a global pandemic like COVID-19) represents a massive failure of fundamental government responsibility.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com