Author to discuss book on presidency

Gunn Memorial Library welcomes Chris Whipple for a talk and signing of his New York Times bestseller.

WASHINGTON » The Gunn Memorial Library welcomes acclaimed author, journalist, documentary filmmaker and multiple Peabody and Emmy Award-winning producer, Chris Whipple, for a talk and signing of his New York Times bestseller, The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency. This event will be held on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 2 p.m., in the library’s Wykeham Room.

The first in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the White House Chiefs of Staff, whose actions—and inactions—have defined the course of our country.

What do Dick Cheney and Rahm Emanuel have in common? Aside from polarizing personalities, both served as chief of staff to the president of the United States—as did Donald Rumsfeld, Leon Panetta, and a relative handful of others. The chiefs of staff, often referred to as “the gatekeepers,” wield tremendous power in Washington and beyond; they decide who is allowed to see the president, negotiate with Congress to push POTUS’s agenda, and—most crucially—enjoy unparalleled access to the leader of the free world. Each chief can make or break an administration, and each president reveals himself by the chief he picks.

Through extensive, intimate interviews with all seventeen living chiefs and two former presidents, Chris Whipple pulls back the curtain on this unique fraternity. In doing so, he revises our understanding of presidential history, showing us how James Baker’s expert managing of the White House, the press, and Capitol Hill paved the way for the Reagan Revolution— and, conversely, how Watergate, the Iraq War, and even the bungled Obamacare rollout might have been prevented by a more effective chief.

Filled with shrewd analysis and never-before-reported

details, The Gatekeepers offers an essential portrait of the toughest job in Washington.

Chris Whipple is an acclaimed writer, journalist, documentary filmmaker, and speaker. A multiple Peabody and Emmy Awardwinning producer at CBS’s 60 Minutes and ABC’s Primetime, he is the chief executive officer of CCWHIP Productions. Most recently, he was the executive producer and writer of Showtime’s The Spymasters: CIA in the Crosshairs.

The Hickory Stick Bookstore will provide books for sale and signing.

This program is free and open to the public but registration is requested. Call 860-868-7586 for further information or visit www. gunnlibrary.org

The Gunn Memorial Library is located at 5 Wykeham Road at Route 47 on the Green, in Washington.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO “The Gatekeepers” by Chris Whipple.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Author Chris Whipple.