Fletcher Knebel (1911–1993)

Real-life is crazier than fiction.

This book was revived to market it as "What if the President Went Stark Raving Mad?" The frightening thing about this book is the evidence of against the President in the novel is very thin, and Trump in the first ten minutes of a Fox News interview or a brief tweet is much more insane than what happens in this book.

As an artifact of the 1960s, it can be quite enjoyable. The main character is a Senator who doesn't seem to have a whole lot of work to do. The women are portrayed from a sixties point of view, which means in rather dismissive and sexist terms. I think if I were the author's wife and I was reading how complacent and forgiving the wife character in this book is about a mistress, I might start doing a little detective work on my husband. The Senator does have an adorable teen daughter nicknamed "Chinky"(worst name ever) who regularly uses the endearment, "Pops." To top it off, the President doesn't seem all that insane.

If I had edited it, I would have sent the author back to work on the plot and suspense level because this could use a little juice.
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After recently reading that several senior members of the Trump Administration had at one point questioned the President's mental stability, I initially assumed the novel was based on current events. The book, "Night of Camp David" looks at what might happen when the President becomes mentally unstable. But it was only after reading the book that I discovered it was originally written in 1965. However, the comments made and the questions raised by Trump Administration insiders, and the questions addressed in this 50-year old book do draw a strange parallel.

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe had stated that Justice Department officials had discussed recruiting cabinet members to use the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein noted that he'd need a majority of 15 cabinet officials to make that happen, and thought he may already have the support of some of the members. Of course, that was never pursued, as far as we know, but the fact that it was even discussed is unnerving.

And remembering that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reportedly called Trump "dumb as a rock", and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly called Trump and "idiot" and thought he was "unhinged", and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis indicated that Trump had the understanding of a 5th or 6th grader, you start to wonder what's going on behind the scenes.

GOP Senator Lindsay Graham reportedly said of Trump that he considered him a kook, crazy, and unfit for office. Both Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and former chief of staff Reince Priebus supposedly called Trump an idiot. Former economic adviser Gary Cohn was said to have referred to Trump as “dumb as shit,” and former national security adviser H.R. McMaster was another who reportedly said the president was a “dope", with the intelligence of a “kindergartner,”. Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon said in November 2017 that Trump was “like an 11-year-old child.

These are Trump's people, not his political detractors or opponents.

It's all pretty scary that real people, political allies of the President, are making comments such as these. It makes the book all the more relevant, and does make you wonder just how difficult it would be to ever invoke the 25th Amendment to remove any President from office.… (mehr)