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nelsta 's review for:
A Promised Land
by Barack Obama
After a long, difficult year fraught with disease, devastation, and waves of political unease, I decided to treat myself to this book. There’s something about President Obama’s voice that is soothing (it soothes my son to sleep, as it turns out). I was deeply appreciative that he narrated this book himself. But it wasn’t just his voice that I looked forward to. I also looked forward to hearing one of my heroes talk about his life (and presidency) in detail in his own words.
This book is very good. It is exceptionally well-written and easy to follow. President Obama did an excellent job of organizing his thoughts both chronologically and by topic. While I didn’t find myself particularly compelled by his early history, I was very interested to hear his thoughts on how to came to become the President. His recounting of his local, state, and national elections and their outcomes was fascinating to me. But, above all, it was the chapters on his presidency that really held my attention.
Fortunately, most of the book is spent recounting his first term in office. He details his responses to the financial crises he helped resolve, military decisions he made, and healthcare reform bill he helped pass. The sections on the healthcare bill were especially important to me as a diabetic. I could feel President Obama’s emotion in the text (although he does a good job of keeping his voice unemotional throughout most of the book). The book concludes with his summarization of Operation Neptune Spear and his reasoning for ordering the mission. It was a natural spot to end the book.
All that aside, you can tell he has a bone to pick. Not just with President Trump, but also the Republicans that fought him tooth and nail on just about every issue. I could tell he held many party members in contempt, although he did his best to avoid calling most out. He made his feelings for the policies of President Bush, Senator McCain, Senator McConnell, and Representative Boehner well known, but he also applauded them for their accomplishments. I appreciated that even when he strongly disagreed with people, he still dedicated space to making sure the reader understood that it wasn’t necessarily the PEOPLE he didn’t like; just their policies and choices.
I ultimately gave this book 4/5 stars because of this. This book is a memoir, but it is also an on-the-record testament of his belief in his policies and decisions. While I pretty much agree with his decisions, I was very slightly disappointed at times that he would continue the partisan fighting.
That being said, who can blame him? It’s hard to fault him for saying things I would also say. I recommend this book, especially the audiobook.
This book is very good. It is exceptionally well-written and easy to follow. President Obama did an excellent job of organizing his thoughts both chronologically and by topic. While I didn’t find myself particularly compelled by his early history, I was very interested to hear his thoughts on how to came to become the President. His recounting of his local, state, and national elections and their outcomes was fascinating to me. But, above all, it was the chapters on his presidency that really held my attention.
Fortunately, most of the book is spent recounting his first term in office. He details his responses to the financial crises he helped resolve, military decisions he made, and healthcare reform bill he helped pass. The sections on the healthcare bill were especially important to me as a diabetic. I could feel President Obama’s emotion in the text (although he does a good job of keeping his voice unemotional throughout most of the book). The book concludes with his summarization of Operation Neptune Spear and his reasoning for ordering the mission. It was a natural spot to end the book.
All that aside, you can tell he has a bone to pick. Not just with President Trump, but also the Republicans that fought him tooth and nail on just about every issue. I could tell he held many party members in contempt, although he did his best to avoid calling most out. He made his feelings for the policies of President Bush, Senator McCain, Senator McConnell, and Representative Boehner well known, but he also applauded them for their accomplishments. I appreciated that even when he strongly disagreed with people, he still dedicated space to making sure the reader understood that it wasn’t necessarily the PEOPLE he didn’t like; just their policies and choices.
I ultimately gave this book 4/5 stars because of this. This book is a memoir, but it is also an on-the-record testament of his belief in his policies and decisions. While I pretty much agree with his decisions, I was very slightly disappointed at times that he would continue the partisan fighting.
That being said, who can blame him? It’s hard to fault him for saying things I would also say. I recommend this book, especially the audiobook.