Recently retired Navy commander Guy “Bus” Snodgrass served as chief speechwriter to Secretary James Mattis for most of his tenure as Secretary of Defense. Snodgrass has recently published a book, Holding the Line: Inside Trump’s Pentagon with Secretary Mattis. In it, the former speechwriter gives a behind-the-scenes look at national security decision-making at the highest levels of government.

Snodgrass’s decision to reveal private conversations in his memoir has been met with criticism. Some have accused him of being self-serving or selling out. Others argue it is inappropriate for a military official to go public with the sensitive information he was privy to.

Guy Snodgrass joins Thomas and Nick for this special episode of TYFYS to address those criticisms and to provide context on his decision to write this book. They also evaluate criticisms of Secretary Mattis’s time in office, and talk through leadership lessons that can be gleaned from Snodgrass’s time at the Pentagon.

This podcast is in no way intended to reflect the official positions of the Department of Defense or any other military entity.

Podcast Production Credit:

Thomas Krasnican, host
Nick Paraiso, host
Aishwarya Kumar, production manager