A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making—from the
president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy
In his own words, Barack Obama tells in A Promised Land 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.
Providing a stirring, deeply personal account of history in the making, 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.