Talks & Entertainment

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 Situation Room has been the epicenter of crisis management for presidents for more than six decades.

In The Situation Room: The Inside Story of Presidents in Crisis, George Stephanopoulos recounts the crises that decided the course of history from the place 12 presidents made their highest-pressure decisions. Detailing close calls made and disasters narrowly averted, The Situation Room takes readers through minute-by-minute transcripts 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.  

Stephanopoulos is a former senior advisor to President Clinton and for more than 20 years has been the host of ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” and co-anchor of “Good Morning America.” He is the author of the New York Times bestseller All Too Human. 

Stephanopoulos will be in conversation with Jonathan Martin, POLITICO’s politics bureau chief and senior political columnist.