Executive Orders book review

Executive Orders by Tom Clancy
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

How should America relate to the world, and to bad actors like the Taliban?

Tom Clancy has a definite opinion on that (hint: it’s not Joe Biden’s position).

Executive Orders gives us a rosy picture of what America’s “tough-on-crime” actions should look like. Along the way he gives us a preview of 9/11 and COVID from 1996, an imperial presidency, and way more military information than I could absorb.

Foreign Policy
In stark contrast to Biden’s current policy of airbrushing bad actors and withdrawing, Clancy highlights their villainy and has America attack them. He draws a straight line from military training and readiness, which often seems excessive to the average citizen, to the overwhelming victory in the detailed battle at the end. We need a strong military, not just for defense, but to respond strongly when enemies attack us. Clancy articulates well the moral difference (not equivalence) between bad actors who use their people, and democratic leaders who are responsible to their people.

Prophetic of 9/11 and COVID
The first major event is a plane crashed into the Capitol Building, killing the president and most of Congress. The later major event is a lethal and infectious disease unleashed on the populous, prompting the president to give “executive orders” to stay home and banning interstate travel. This really got me thinking. Clancy has President Jack Ryan consult with the CDC and follow their advice: lock it all down before it spreads. It works, and the disease dies out. Interestingly, the executive orders are not lifted yet, at the end of the book. Clancy’s Pollyanna take on the effectiveness of mitigation to stop disease from spreading, people being willing to follow such orders, the science establishment’s purity from political motives, and a president or governor not taking politics into account in issuing such orders, all boggle the mind. But Jack Ryan’s gotta look good, so, you know.

Imperial view of presidency
Making Ryan the president was a nice touch. He does a decent job treating the psychology of the job. But Clancy assumes an imperial presidency – a bad move. With half the Congress wiped out at the beginning of the book, the new president actually makes a speech calling for the country in their special elections to “send me” a certain kind of officeholder. There is no sign of a check on executive power from Congress or the judiciary, while taking world-disruptive actions. But it’s Jack Ryan. We don’t need that!

Too much military detail
I know this is part of the appeal of Clancy – those with inside information about the AWACS, T-80 tanks, etc. get to see it all in print. “He gets my world. He KNOWS.” But this is why this will probably be my last Tom Clancy book. He goes on for pages and pages. One thing I’ve drawn from Bible interpretation: quantity of ink spilled shows the author’s emphasis on and love for the subject. As Victor Hugo loved Paris, and Melville loved whales, so Tom Clancy loves the military. So do most of his readers. I respect and honor our military for their important role in the world. I just don’t want to have to wade ignorantly through all their jargon. For 1350 pages. 

Taking well over a year to read, off and on, I enjoyed the geopolitics and presidential decision making. But I’m done with a sigh of relief.

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