A Promised Land

by Barack Obama

17th November, 2020

£33.25 ~~£35.00~~ Save 5% | Hardback

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From the former president of the USA, a very personal account of leading his country for eight years during two terms, interesting and riveting in turn. He inspired people to believe in the power of democracy.

This is a long awaited first volume of his presidential memoir. He begins with the unlikely journey of a young man finding his place in the world, to becoming leader of the western world. Barack Obama provides a personal account of his education in politics and then following the most memorable times during his first term as president, which was a time of great turmoil and change.

In this first volume Obama describes his very early political ambitions and ideals through to the critical victory in Iowa state. It shows hows grassroots activism has great power, then leads to the memorable night of 4th November 2008, when Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United States of America. He was to become the first African American to hold the seat in the White House.

Through his presidency, he looks closely at the reach that being president gives, while also describing the limits of what can be done as president, especially when having no majority in the House. He provides an insight into the inner workings of partisan US politics and an overview of international relations and diplomacy. Obama takes readers into the White House, where we get to see the workings of the Oval Office and the John F. Kennedy conference room in the basement of the West Wing. Readers are taken to various capital cities such as Beijing, Cairo, Moscow amongst others.

We are present while Obama selects his cabinet, attempts to deal with the financial crisis and tries to handle Vladimir Putin. He battles to bring forth and secure his Affordable Care Act, argues with army generals about what US strategy should be in Afghanistan, takes on Wall Street reform, reacts to the terrible fallout from the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and gives the go ahead for operation Neptune's Spear, which leads to the shooting dead of Osama Bin Laden.

A Promised Land is an extremely open, honest account and often very thoughtful, the awareness of a man's place in history. He describes his faith while on the world stage. Obama talks openly about the difficulties of running for office being black, trying to live up to the rousing speeches promising hope and change in America and looks at the challenges associated with the decision making process while trying to meet your own moral standards. There is an open discussion about how he was opposed both domestically and on the international stage, the effect on his family of living in the White House and how at times he suffered from self-doubt and ultimately disappointments. Throughout this book there is an underlying message to the reader that despite all the difficulties, progress can still be achieved.

This extremely well written memoir show clearly Barack Obama's absolute belief that democracy can be based on the strong foundations of thoughtfulness and common beliefs, and is something that is built on and improved on a daily basis.