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A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making - from the president who inspired us to believe in
the power of democracy.
In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story
of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to
leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both
his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of
his historic presidency - a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.
Obama takes listeners on a compelling journey from his earliest political
aspirations to the pivotal Iowa caucus victory that demonstrated the
power of grassroots activism to the watershed night of November 4, 2008,
when he was elected 44th president of the United States, becoming the
first African American to hold the nation’s highest office.
Reflecting on the presidency, he offers a unique and thoughtful exploration of
both the awesome reach and the limits of presidential power, as well as
singular insights into the dynamics of US partisan politics and
international diplomacy. Obama brings listeners inside the Oval Office
and the White House Situation Room, and to Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, and
points beyond. We are privy to his thoughts as he assembles his cabinet,
wrestles with a global financial crisis, takes the measure of Vladimir
Putin, overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds to secure passage of the
Affordable Care Act, clashes with generals about US strategy in
Afghanistan, tackles Wall Street reform, responds to the devastating
Deepwater Horizon blowout, and authorizes Operation Neptune’s Spear,
which leads to the death of Osama bin Laden.
A Promised Land is extraordinarily intimate and introspective - the story of one man’s
bet with history, the faith of a community organizer tested on the world
stage. Obama is candid about the balancing act of running for office as
a Black American, bearing the expectations of a generation buoyed by
messages of “hope and change”, and meeting the moral challenges of
high-stakes decision-making. He is frank about the forces that opposed
him at home and abroad, open about how living in the White House
affected his wife and daughters, and unafraid to reveal self-doubt and
disappointment. Yet he never wavers from his belief that inside the
great, ongoing American experiment, progress is always possible.
This beautifully written and powerful book captures Barack Obama’s
conviction that democracy is not a gift from on high but something
founded on empathy and common understanding and built together, day by
day.