Barack Obama

thoughts on reclaiming the American dream

The audacity of hope

Senator Obama calls for a different brand of politics--a politics for those weary of bitter partisanship and alienated by the "endless clash of armies" we see in Congress and on the campaign trail; a politics rooted in the faith, inclusiveness, and nobility of spirit at the heart of our democracy. He explores those forces--from the fear of losing, to the perpetual need to raise money, to the power of the media--that can stifle even the best-intentioned politician. He examines the growing economic insecurity of American families, the racial and religious tensions within the body politic, and the transnational threats--from terrorism to pandemic--that gather beyond our shores. And he grapples with the role that faith plays in a democracy. Only by returning to the principles that gave birth to our Constitution, he says, can Americans repair a broken political process, and restore to working order a government dangerously out of touch with millions of ordinary Americans.--From publisher description.

Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream

The Audacity of Hope

“The audacity of hope. 
That was the best of the American spirit, I thought - having the audacity to believe despite all the evidence to the contrary that we could restore a sense of community to a nation torn by conflict; the gall to believe that despite personal setbacks, the loss of a job or an illness in the family or a childhood mired in poverty, we had some control - and therefore responsibility - over our own fate. 

It was that audacity I thought, that joined us as one people. It was that pervasive spirit of hope that tied my own family’s story to the larger American story, and my own story to those of the voters I sought to represent”

Michael Burkhardt

I hope that this man is our next president

Steph Lodico

It wasn’t until the epilogue that Obama really talked about “the audacity of hope,” which in and of itself is fine if that connecting thread had been present all along. Instead, this book felt disjointed to me, and much more like a 360-page un-energetic campaign pitch than a truly thoughtful book about what hope in our current state of affairs looks like. There were touching parts, and I certainly learned something, but the overall message I got was that I made the right decision to not continue pursuing a career in politics. 3 stars feels a bit generous, to be frank, but I gave them for his genuineness which somehow showed through all of the politics. 

It was hard not to compare to Michelle’s Becoming because a lot of the two books overlapped factually but came across way differently - Becoming felt personal with a side of politics, rather than politics with a side of personal. My favorite part of this book was Obama’s little anecdote about what seems to have pushed him toward being a supporter of equal marriage rights for the LGBTQ+ community; stories like that, which were rare for this book, told me much more about hope and his personal political evolution than his proposed policy plans did. I wasn’t keen on Obama’s somewhat preachy moderateness and had to push myself through this read. I haven’t read his earlier or later books—and at this point probably won’t—but suspect that both of those would be much more fruitful than this just by taking into account when each was written, because this seemed like a carefully calculated book to launch him into the presidency.

Matthew Rasnake

It is hard to know what to say about a book like this... first of all, Obama is obviously a shrewd politician (with all the attributes that that implies). My impression of him, however, has always been that he is a sincere one, who truly has the best interests of the country and the people at heart. I also enjoy his oratorical style, over which, i've been led to understand, he exercises great control. It is with these impressions, and in the wake of his victory in the 2008 elections, that I finally grabbed this book off my shelf to read.

The primary feeling I have about this book is that it confirms my understanding the absolute sincerity of his belief in this nation. In every chapter, it is made clear that, while there are obviously hurdles across the long road the country still has to travel, he truly believes that if we just hold to the principles set down by the founding fathers, we can continue to perfect our union, and be the beacon of hope and prosperity that can lead the world itself into an era of peace and understanding.

He takes great care in pointing out how he, and those in his position are riding that razors edge, by necessity, between remaining advocates and representatives of the people, and becoming beholden to the rich and the special interests. He shows how he and his colleagues often have to go out of their way to connect with their constituents, and not get distracted by a schedule filled with private jets, black tie affairs, fundraisers, and lobbyists. Sometimes, yes, it seems like he's trying too hard to say "but look at all these real people I've talked to," and "look how grounded I am."

A good deal of the book is about his personal journey, his political and family history. He talks a lot about his wife and kids, his mom, and his grandparents. He also talks a lot about policy, even specific policy proposals that we've seen take shape and become further defined during his Presidential campaign. He also talks a lot about the troubles we still face, with the sharp partisan divide that's plagued the nation for so long. He places blame on both sides, and not undeservedly, I should think. And yes, he talks about race and the progress that we've made that should be celebrated, and the progress that's still to be made that has its roots in all sides of the debate.

He also, talks about the founding principles of the nation, and how we relate to them, how we remember them, and how, perhaps, we should re-embrace them for the betterment of our nation. He gives facts concerning the intention of the founding fathers, their beliefs, and how, in many instances the great compromises they had to make in order to ensure we had a strong foundation from which to build.

He relates all these things to the way that we, as a nation, have to come together. How we need to stop bickering for the sake of our entrenched and unreasonable positions, and come together by defining those things that we *can* agree on, and leveraging those to reach compromises on those things that we can't. American is not a nation of absolute truths, and black and white moral judgements, and it never has been. The only absolute truths to be found in the DNA of our nation are these: that all are created equal, and that all have the right to live their lives as they see fit in the pursuit of their happiness. As Americans, we have a common ground, we have a common language, and we have a common goal. If we cannot see them, it is because we've allowed ourselves to become distracted on our path to a more perfect union, by thinking that "the union will only be perfect when it's perfect for me."

Ok, well, some of that was me leaking out, but somewhere in there is the gist of what he was driving at.

Bottom-line is that this a really worthwhile read. For those who are already in Obama's camp, this will surely solidify your understanding and appreciation, not just of the man himself, but of his sincere belief that we can make this a better nation with hard work and compromise.

For those conservatives and ditto-heads out there still harboring resentment and distrust of our new President, I recommend this to you even more highly. If your judgments are based on soundbites, policy breakdowns, and the haranguing of the conservative talking head crowd, you'd do well to get a real introduction to your President, straight from his own pen.

Melanie Richards

This book got me fired up about a lot of things; I suppose you could say I'm a bit of a bleeding heart. Though I wouldn't go as far as some of the proposed policies that President Obama outlines in this book (not that he believes we should tackle ALL such problems at once, let's give him more credit than that) I believe that he really believes what he says about providing opportunities to more Americans.

Jeni Enjaian

A review from my old blog... (it's obvious that I wrote this 5 years ago :D)

Obama writes with a very fluid, almost popular style. I discovered about fifty pages into the book that it was taking me much longer than normal to read this book because I wanted to read everything on the page... every word.

When I first noticed that Obama was not narrating in a strictly chronological direction I had a little bit of hesitation. Books or other forms of narratives that skip around and/or venture off into unconnected subjects are a big turn off for me. I kept reading the book and realized that this sort of narrative is exactly what a potential voter could ask for in order to learn about a candidate.

Each of the chapters deals with different aspects of life from Democrats vs. Republicans to Family. I learned just about everything that I could wish to know about Obama as a presidential candidate and nearly everything that I would wish to know about him as a person.

For anyone interested in becoming a well-informed voter this political season should pick up this book if for nothing else than to get a little information about this relatively unknown frontrunner. The fact that Obama writes with ease and appeal is just an added bonus.

Excellent book. I read his first memoir and found it interesting, yet a little hard to get through. Not so with this one. Reading more about his values, his thoughts on policy and what shaped both was intriguing. Fantastic read.

The audacity of hope thoughts on reclaiming the American dream

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