A Promised Land

Summary

This first volume of a two-part memoir is a riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making—from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy.

Barack Obama takes readers on a compelling journey from his earliest political aspirations to the night of November 4, 2008, when he was elected 44th president of the United States, becoming the first African American to hold the nation’s highest office.

Reflecting on the presidency, Obama brings readers inside the Oval Office and the White House Situation Room and to Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, and points beyond. We are privy to his thoughts as he assembles his cabinet, wrestles with a global financial crisis, takes the measure of Vladimir Putin, overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds to secure passage of the Affordable Care Act, clashes with generals about US strategy in Afghanistan, tackles Wall Street reform, responds to the devastating Deepwater Horizon blowout, and authorizes Operation Neptune’s Spear, which leads to the death of Osama bin Laden.

A Promised Land is the story of one man’s bet with history, the faith of a community organizer tested on the world stage. He is frank about the forces that opposed him, open about how living in the White House affected his family, and unafraid to reveal self-doubt and disappointment. Yet he never wavers from his belief that inside the great, ongoing American experiment, progress is always possible.