‘The World as It Is’ Review: A Witness to Hope and Change

As Obama’s deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes was a White House myth shaper. His memoirs codify the myths for posterity. Martin Peretz reviews “The World as It Is” by Ben Rhodes.

Mythic presidents, at least the mythic Democrats of the past half-century, collect myth shapers: JFK had Ted Sorensen and Arthur Schlesinger Jr., LBJ had Richard Goodwin, Barack Obama has Ben Rhodes. Part philosophers, part policy makers, always young and almost always loyal, myth shapers gain status through identification and rapport with their principal. They understand his allure and how to use it to shape the world to his ends, and then spend the post-presidential years shaping the story of how they did it and what it meant.

Mr....