If your funny older sister were the former deputy chief of staff to President Barack Obama, her behind-the-scenes political memoir would look something like this.
Alyssa Mastromonaco worked for Barack Obama for almost a decade, long before his run for president. From the then-senator’s early days in Congress to his years in the Oval Office, she made hope and change happen through blood, sweat, tears, and lots of briefing binders.
But for every historic occasion—meeting the queen at Buckingham Palace, bursting in on secret climate talks, or nailing a campaign speech in a hailstorm—there were dozens of less-than-perfect moments when it was up to Alyssa to save the day. Like the time she learned the hard way that there aren’t nearly enough bathrooms at the Vatican.
Full of hilarious, never-before-told stories, this is an intimate portrait of a president, a book about how to get stuff done, and the story of how one woman challenged, again and again, what a White House official is supposed to look like. Here Mastromonaco shares the strategies that made her successful in politics and beyond, including the importance of confidence, the value of not being a jerk, and why ultimately everything comes down to hard work
Told in a smart, original voice and topped off with a couple of really good cat stories, Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? is a promising debut from a savvy political star.
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Few people have had as much access and influence over national events over the last decade as Alyssa Mastromonaco. No matter how serious the crisis or hard the problem, Alyssa took care of it with great skill and professionalism, and even greater humor. This book tells the story of a young woman succeeding under extraordinary circumstances, and throughout it all, never taking herself too seriously.
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Stephanie Cutter, former senior advisor to President Barack Obama