The audacity of hope : thoughts on reclaiming the American dream

SUMMARY: The Audacity of Hope is Barack Obama's call for a new kind of politics—a politics that builds upon those shared understandings that pull us together as Americans. Lucid in his vision of America's place in the world, refreshingly candid about his family life and his time in the Senate, Obama here sets out his political convictions and inspires us to trust in the dogged optimism that has long defined us and that is our best hope going forward.

senator Barack Obama Reflects On The American Ideals That Led Him Into Politics. Barack Obama Has Been Hailed By Voters Of All Stripes As A Man Of Uncommon Gifts And Far-reaching Vision. In The Audacity Of Hope, He Draws On His Personal Experience As A Senator And Lawyer, Professor And Father, Christian And Skeptic, And Finds A Shared Language About Our Nation S Values. At The Same Time He Explores The Gap Between Our American Ideals And The Ruthless Imperatives Of Today S Politics.

the New York Times Sunday Book Review - Gary Hart

in A Very Short Time, Barack Obama Has Made Himself Into A Figure Of National Interest, Curiosity And Some Undefined Hope. This Book Fully Encourages Those Sentiments. His Greatest Test Will Be That Of Sensing The Times, Of Matching His Timing With The Tides Of The Nation.

He Is At His Best When He Writes Things Like This: I Find Comfort In The Fact That The Longer I M In Politics The Less Nourishing Popularity Becomes, That A Striving For Power And Rank And Fame Seems To Betray A Poverty Of Ambition, And That I Am Answerable Mainly To The Steady Gaze Of My Own Conscience.

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. Barack Obama is that rare politician who can actually write ... and write movingly and genuinely about himself. (The New York Times.)