Being a man of a certain age, I can recall 1976 and the bi-centennial celebrations to mark the 200th ‘birthday’ of the USA. Gerald Ford was president and as part of the celebrations, more than 10,000 people were naturalised as citizens in mass ceremonies held in Chicago, Detroit and Miami. While in New York, tall ships formed a flotilla with hundreds of smaller vessels. It was quite the party! Fast forward 50 years (which seems scarcely possible) and I felt I should mark the latest milestone in similarly lavish fashion.And thus I settled down to the audiobook version of ‘A Promised Land’ by Barack Obama. This first volume of the former president’s memoirs is quite a tome (I have a hard copy on my TBR shelf) and yet the prospect of a presidential address lasting 29 hours 10 minutes felt like the kind of extreme indulgence, as befits the occasion.
There’s no question the author can write and tell a compelling story (even one we’ve lived through) and there are plenty of sobering plot-lines (Covid; the financial crisis; Iraq; Afghanistan; racial and gender inequality), some well known villains, but also a large cast of good people, who are credited with some seismic achievements, as Obama tentatively lifts the veil on the machinations of the American political establishment. Indeed, for a curious outsider, having the unique perspective of the POTUS to walk the reader/listener through a series of international challenges, political frictions, electoral battles and attendant risks was fascinating, made all the more profound laid alongside the domestic considerations that also attend a young husband and father, trying to maintain a sense of balance and stay grounded, in the rarified atmosphere of the White House.
What I liked most about the account was the sense of having a ringside seat for history in the making. Albeit a retrospective view, to hear the competing factors to be weighed, compromises to be made and the tactical nouse necessary to advance any policy is mind boggling and there are no easy hits. Foreign or domestic policies, fiscal and budgetary constraints, health, defence, education, each arena fraught with partisan loyalties and the need to keep even loyalists onside. The sheer breadth of the President’s field of vision, even allowing for specialist advisers, is truly remarkable.
And yet, in the face of the many challenges eventually to be confronted by the 44th President, what also came across was the humanity of the man. From humble background, to senator, to leader of the western world. A family man, with a love of basketball and the occasional cigarette, able to connect with his closest staff, as well as national leaders, a gifted communicator that from this side of the pond appears to be a tough act to follow.
I shall look forward to the second volume with interest, but this first instalment is well worth the investment in time and narrated by the author the audiobook was definitely enriched. The main advantage of the hardcopy is access to some tremendous photographs and a detailed index. I don’t review many non-fiction books here, but this one is quite insightful and enabled me to look back at a pandemic, war and a serious financial crisis, if not with nostalgia, at least with satisfaction for the leadership shouldering a succession of crises.
