Young Mr. Obama
Chicago and the Making of a Black President
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- $31.99
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- $31.99
Publisher Description
Barack Obama's inspirational politics and personal mythology have overshadowed his fascinating history. Young Mr. Obama gives us the missing chapter: the portrait of the politician as a young leader, often too ambitious for his own good, but still equipped with a rare ability to inspire change. The route to the White House began on the streets of Chicago's South Side.
Edward McClelland, a veteran Chicago journalist, tells the real story of the first black president's political education in the capital of the African American political community. Obama's touch wasn't always golden, and the unflappable and charismatic campaigner we know today nearly derailed his political career with a disastrous run for Congress in 2000. Obama learned from his mistakes, and rebuilt his public persona. Young Mr. Obama is a masterpiece of political reporting, peeling away the audacity, the T-shirts, and the inspiring speeches to craft a compelling and surpassingly readable account of how local politics shaped a national leader.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As Barack Obama s presidency is beset by falling ratings, a weak economy, and an antideficit mood, McClelland s examination of Obama s ascendency should encourage supporters and instill caution in opponents. This detailed history traces Obama s arrival as a community organizer self-conscious about his exoticness and his rise to the top of Chicago politics in his 2004 primary campaign for the Senate. While the insider baseball of Chicago politics can prove dauntingly detailed, the account illustrates critical moments in Obama s whirlwind ascent to high office. His 1999 loss to congressman and former Black Panther Bobby Rush left Obama dejected, demoralized and bitter about attacks on his credibility as a black politician, but McClelland (The Third Coast) is refreshingly unsparing on Obama s missteps: Obama didn t lose because he was too white. He lost because he was a presumptuous young man challenging a popular incumbent. Political junkies will pay close attention to the story of Obama s tough political learning curve even as it recounts how the president s early ambitions bore out his initial belief that his adopted home was the perfect training ground for solving America s problems, racial and otherwise.
