The Situation Room: The Inside Story of Presidents in Crisis

George Stephanopoulos

May 2024 · Sold by Grand Central Publishing

About this ebook

 #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

George Stephanopoulos, the legendary political news host and former advisor to President Clinton, recounts the history-making crises from the place where twelve presidents made their highest-pressure decisions: the White House Situation Room. 

No room better defines American power and its role in the world than the White House Situation Room. And yet, none is more shrouded in secrecy and mystery. Created under President Kennedy, the Sit Room has been the epicenter of crisis management for presidents for more than six decades. Time and again, the decisions made within the Sit Room complex affect the lives of every person on this planet. Detailing close calls made and disasters narrowly averted, THE SITUATION ROOM will take readers through dramatic turning points in a dozen presidential administrations, including:

• Incredible minute-by-minute transcripts from the Sit Room after both Presidents Kennedy and Reagan were shot
• The shocking moment when Henry Kissinger raised the military alert level to DEFCON III while President Nixon was drunk in the White House residence
• The extraordinary scene when President Carter asked for help from secret government psychics to rescue American hostages in Iran
• A vivid retelling of the harrowing hours during the 9/11 attack
• New details from Obama administration officials leading up to the raid on Osama Bin Laden
• And a first-ever account of January 6th from the staff inside the Sit Room

THE SITUATION ROOM is the definitive, past-the-security-clearance look at the room where it happened, and the people—the famous and those you've never heard of—who have made history within its walls.

Ratings and reviews

This book is history in the making, while informing us of our country's history.

About the author

George Stephanopoulos is the host of ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos and co-anchor of Good Morning America. Stephanopoulos joined ABC News in 1997 as an analyst for This Week. Prior to joining ABC News, he served in the Clinton administration as the senior advisor to the president for policy and strategy. He is the author of All Too Human, a New York Times bestseller.