Book Presentation
Reading Obama by James T. Kloppenberg
Book Abstract
When you analyze President Barack Obama’s speeches and his writings – especially his two books Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope – it becomes clear he does not fit neatly into any of the more contemporary partisan categories. In fact he is one of the most penetrating political thinkers to have been elected to the presidency in the past century.
President Obama’s distinctive world view – which has been derided by the Right as “dangerous” and by the Left as “spineless” – has been formed by the fusion of his personal experiences with his exposure to the unique dynamics of the history of American democracy. President Obama embraces a refreshingly wide number of the central and enduring themesof the Americanpolitical tradition and yet he is equally willing to debate, test and where necessary revise and update those themes to maintain their vibrancy and relevance. All too frequently the White House is the epicenter of the shrill, partisan oversimplifications which tend to dominate public debate but President Obama brings to the White House a refreshing new way of thinking about the role of democracy. Ideas matterto the forty-fourth president of the United States and he takes them seriously.
About the Author
James T. Kloppenberg is professor of American history and chair of the history department at Harvard University. He is the author of Uncertain Victory, The Virtues of Liberalism and A Companion to American Thought.
Important Note About This Ebook
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