A Promised Land

In the first of two highly anticipated volumes of his presidential memoir, 44th President of the United States Barack Obama (Dreams of My Father) shares an intimate portrait that connects his personal journey as a son, husband, father, and leader to the very public life that people saw. From his early political aspirations through 2011 and the assassination of Osama bin Laden during his first term in the White House, Obama describes his humble beginnings and the events that shaped his world view. He discusses how the civil rights movement affected him and describes how his grassroots campaigns for the Illinois State Senate and U.S. Senate led to his ambitious run for the presidency in 2008. Obama interweaves key events from his personal and political life with the thoughts and conversations he had with family and friends in order to provide unparalleled context to his decision-making. Readers gain behind-the-scenes access to the shaping of the Affordable Care Act, Obama’s response to the financial crisis and recession in 2008, the racial profiling of Henry Louis Gates in 2009, and the hunt for bin Laden in 2011, to name a few.