A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times – An Instant New York Times Bestseller: A Pentagon Insider's Tumultuous Years Under President Trump

by Mark T. Esper

In a matter of weeks, we could have 107 aircraft—more than four times the number than the year before—flying over the White House, where the president and his supporters would be accused of holding a political event. Fighting vehicles, rocket launchers, air-defense systems, and other military hardware positioned on the South Lawn would be seemingly protecting them all; at a minimum they would be political props to convey the candidate’s strength, toughness, and seriousness. It was not a good optic for the nation, and it was not a good look for the military. It made no sense to any of us at the Pentagon, but at the White House, we would learn, it made all the sense in the world.