Obama takes readers 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 U.S. partisan politics and
international diplomacy. Obama brings readers 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 U.S. 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.