In 2004 at the Democratic convention, a young African-American man stepped on-stage to give a speech. At the time, he held no national office. He was just seen as an up-and-comer. As his speech flowed, viewers set in rapt attention, certain that they were witnessing something transformative. He went through his own unique heritage, informing all that though his genealogy was unusual, it was really within a long American tradition. As soon as Barack Obama finished that speech, there was a national buzz about a potential Presidential run for him in the very near future. Somewhere along the line, in a joke with a reporter, Obama made compared himself to the basketball player LeBron James, alluding to LeBron's having left the safe confines of high school basketball to immediately do well within the professional ranks. There was a hint that Obama would succeed in the same manner within the political world. This book goes back through all of Obama's history, interviewing different people along the way to give us a better understanding of who he is. There were conversations with people he knew at school, with one young lady pointing out that she was impressed in high school at a poem that Barack had written. Apparently, the poem was quite “deep,” foreshadowing the cosmopolitan, keen intellect that was to come. There was the high school basketball coach who had words with Obama that seemed to have negative feelings still lingering within both men many years later. There was the Black friend who always philosophized about race, who was now living as a homeless person on the streets of Los Angeles. The list goes on and on, but what one gathers from this book is that Barack Obama has held a life-long ambition to exceed, that he has always been known as an intelligent person, and many who were around him knew that he would always do something special. The author, in trying to figure out Obama's seeming coolness, his ability to remain calm in all storms, wanted to get to the bottom of that. When this was mentioned to Michelle, she simply told the author that to truly understand that aspect of Barack, it was necessary that he visit and spend time in Barack's native Hawaii. Michelle is convinced that Barack's natural patience was imbibed in the atmosphere of Hawaii, as if it was just in the air. Overall, this book is a good read for anyone trying to get a better understanding of our President. It is well-written by a guy simply trying to give us more insight. For all of those who are Barack Obama fans, there is another book that can add to your store of information about him that complements this one. In Thomas D. Rush's “Reality's Pen: Reflections On Family, History & Culture,” you will find a 1989 account of two private conversations between Rush and Obama. In those conversations, Barack reflects on what he envisions in his romantic future, long before he met Michelle. The account is special, in part, because it contains substance that only Rush and Obama heard. It is also special because the comments were made before Obama became famous between he and another guy who were just normal, everyday guys. The interaction is detailed on page 95 of Rush's book in a piece called “You Never Know Who God Wants You To Meet.” Rush's book can be found right here on Amazon, and the Obama story is just one of the many rich stories from the book. Together, these two books allow the reader to get a better grasp upon our President.
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