A Promised Land

4* - For the book itself
1* - For audible and a sign of appreciation for the times we live in. To think I had the ex-President of the United States talk to me about his first term in office during morning cycle rides is absolutely ridiculous.

Back in 2008, I was swept up by his campaign and by the things he said. Having heard all the garbage been strewn around by politicians in India, even the notorious Indian media couldn't help but get carried away.

I would recommend this book to everyone. It is great to hear an almost centrist voice in today's highly polarised political climate around the globe. He got a lot done in his first term and genuinely tried to do a lot of good along the way. It was priceless to get to hear how the White House actually views global events. He might not have done everything he promised but he tried his best. In a time when politicians are heavy on promises and absolute lightweights on execution, I do admire the guy.

Not sure if I believed him.

It's nice to read a detailed account of a presidency that I was actually around for!

I mostly listened and, as others have said, found comfort in that. It is a very detailed book, so I found myself skimming over sections that I knew I would not retain. It's a great historical record from his perspective, though. I will use it as a reference in the future. I must admit that I enjoyed Michelle's memoir more.

Excellent!

Having also read Michelle Obama's recent memoir, I'm going to have to say I enjoyed her's more. She spoke from the heart and was a bit more personal. Barack's was a bit more of a play-by-play of his interactions with leaders across the world, and the work that goes into his policies (war in the middle east, affordable care act). Of course that was still interesting to hear about, though!

A book about perseverance and hope
America's former commander-in-chief shares his character flaws and fears for the presidency. It is a lengthy memoir with vivid detail and a captivating hopey changey rhetoric. This is an impressive but restrained account of life inside the White House. Obama details historic decision-making amid growing racist resentment. It's fascinating because it focuses on the minutiae of decision-making. Ultimately, Obama emerges as a steely political operator. Less an idealist and more a reserved, conscientious pragmatist.

The text reflects part of his first term (so lots more to come) and is definitely worth your time.

I didn't get a chance to write a review till now but I gave this one a hands down 5 star review. I appreciated his look and his glance into the oval office and being transparent about his experiences during his term. It was very interesting to see the events unravel and catch a glimpse of that. I know he can't disclose everything but it was nice to get a clear perspective of walking in his shoes during this one.

I don't know how to fully separate my opinion on Obama from my review of the book, so I'll just state for the record that I am a lifelong Democrat who cried when Obama was elected but ended up disappointed in some of his actions while president. His autobiography is long but worth the time investment. I learned a lot about political situations that I hadn't paid much attention to at the time and came away with a better sense of the incredibly complicated deal-making that is required to get anything done in Congress, even when your party is in the majority.

I'm not sure I learned anything about Barack Obama as a human being that I didn't know already. He is intelligent, thoughtful, and willing to admit mistakes - up to a point. I wish there had been more examples where he said, “I really screwed this up and it had significant ramifications for our country.” But no, the health care deal was the best he could manage, closing Gitmo turned out to be impossible, going after the Wall Street bankers would never have worked, etc. etc. I guess he has to protect his presidential legacy, and maybe ten or twenty years from now he will have enough perspective to be more critical regarding his actions. But he's still a breath of fresh air compared to 45 when it comes to being able to wrestle with the impact of his decisions, even if he is loathe to admit he did anything but the best he could at the time.

Obama acknowledges that there was no way he could have lived up to the expectations everyone projected on him (all of that “hope and change” stuff), but he still did more good than any Democratic president in my lifetime (sadly that only includes Carter and Clinton). It will be interesting to see if the tone of his follow up book will be different as more time elapses from his tenure in office.

“I suspect that God's plan, whatever it is, works on a scale too large to admit our mortal tribulations; that in a single lifetime, accidents and happenstance determine more than we care to admit; and that the best we can do is to try to align ourselves with what we feel is right and construct some meaning out of our confusion, and with grace and nerve play at each moment the hand that we're dealt.”

“When things are bad,” Axe said, walking next to me as we left the December meeting, “no one cares that ‘things could have been worse.”