A Promised Land by Barack Obama

An insightful read, whatever your politics are..

Hey friends,

Greetings from Trivandrum, Kerala!

Sorry for posting this a day late. I had a final presentation at university, after which I travelled from the top of the country to the bottom. I’m now in Trivandrum for some book work. We’re finishing the formatting and other related things.

Anyhow, this week I wanted to share my review of a recent read - A Promised Land by Barack Obama.

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No matter your politics, it’s worth studying how great leaders clawed their way to the top. To see behind the guise they show the public, to get an inner understanding of the person’s psyche—isn’t this what we desire in our leaders? To gauge the content of their character behind the fiery rhetoric and the bluster of modern-day politics?

This is my motivation to read this book, the first in my foray into the lives of some of the most influential leaders in modern times. I would like to know the stories that shaped their rise to the most powerful positions on the planet, where the snap of their fingers can shake the world. These are people who have the incalculable power of connecting with a human being. Multiply that over populations, and you have folks who steer the course of the entire human race.

No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, you’ll agree that Obama was one of the most consequential leaders of our time. His actions rippled across the world, and his story has material from which we can all benefit. That’s why I, an Indian, wanted to dive into his story.

It takes only going through the first quarter of this behemoth of a book to see that it isn’t a typical memoir. It is part personal story and part walk through American history of the time. But I didn’t mind that. I didn’t know enough about what was going on in America and the world back then, even though I was alive (I was just 5 years old in 2008!). Many can argue that this historical grounding is essential for the readers as Obama does want younger people to read this book.

The first sections are a highly abridged version of his early life and the circumstances that led him to public life. I wonder what gets lost in writing such a condensed version of one’s life. In my own modest way, I had to do something similar in compressing 14 years of my life into the first chapter of my upcoming memoir – The Light Of Wilder Things. Does one just choose the highlights to write about? Or just the hardships?

This exercise of looking back on one’s life, weighing one event against another, and seeing what is worthy to be written about is one of the hardest things I’ve done. So imagine what that must have been like for Obama. He had such an unusual story. Born to a black father and white mother from different countries, living in many places from Indonesia to Hawaii to Chicago. Grappling with identity is a central theme here. These are interesting elements in a story, and it keeps you reading.

I suppose most of us only learnt about Obama once he became president. But it was humbling to read about what it took to get there—the community organizing, the bid for the state senate, and then the US Senate, competing in party primaries before securing the nomination and fighting for the presidency. It’s just so bizarre to imagine Obama walking down streets and knocking on doors. But it did happen. It’s hearing about these stories that shows you that such people had the same circumstances as us, maybe worse ones, yet they got to the top by their sheer hard work. It’s not just dumb luck. They worked so hard that they were bound to get lucky and make it big.

The book shows how dirty politics can be and how it can work if the stars align. This is a recurrent theme. I think Obama wanted to show the majesty of the democratic system and that it can be a force for good. Seeing non-cooperative party leadership on all sides made me wonder whether we were all just self-serving creatures in the end. Left be both pessimistic and optimistic.

Striving for political leadership is interesting because you have to first compete within your own party (a blistering campaign), then compete with opposing parties (with your former in-party rivals now suddenly playing comrade) and then, once you finally win, be under razor-sharp scrutiny to deliver, where each setback and mistake is blown way out of proportion. It takes a special kind of person to go through that. Obama wonders, and so do I, whether his decision to go through with all this is rooted in his desire to make a difference or personal ambition. Is it one or the other? Is it both? Can it be both?

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I’ve always wanted to know what leaders talk about in meetings like the G20. What do all these (typically old men) talk about behind closed doors? What do they think of each other? Obama gives us a sneak peek into this in one of my favourite parts of this book as he describes other world leaders. I won’t repeat those descriptions here; you’ll have to read the book to find out.

One place Obama surprised me was when he chose not to dive into what the media considers turning points in his story – his 2004 convention speech and his 2008 victory speech. I expected way more material giving us more of the backstory for these events, especially the second one, so the brevity surprised me. I expected a chapter or two, but I only got a few pages. It didn’t turn me off. It just surprised me.

A word must be said about Obama’s writing style. Reading this book feels like listening to a podcast with him, where you know exactly where he will pause and where he’ll emphasize. Having personality comes across in the writing takes skill, and he scores full points here. Someone who can walk you through world events without your head nodding off deserves praise.

My only gripe was with the financial crisis part. Perhaps since getting America out of the 2008 financial crisis was one of the defining moments of his presidency, he spent a great deal explaining the intricacies of his financial policies. I had to skip some pages here; it was just flying over my head. This is a pity because it affected the lives of millions, and in many ways, I’m obliged to learn about what actually happened. However, such complicated topics need to be simplified. I wished Obama had broken it down into easy-to-understand language. It had to be made simple to grasp. That wouldn’t have come across as patronizing; it would have been sympathizing with a readership that doesn’t understand the finances of the world. It would have also better showcased his administration’s efforts to deal with this crisis.

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My measure of great leaders is how they talk about their mistakes and shortcomings. Here, I saw a degree of humility in Obama’s writing. He does talk about his mistakes candidly. He noticed the hype that was building around him in his campaign and beautifully addressed this by saying how he had “take stock to make sure I wasn’t buying into the hype and remind myself of the distance between the airbrushed image and the flawed, often uncertain person I was.”

Still, I wonder whether there was a hint of “justifying yourself” in writing about his mistakes and the shortcomings of his presidency. Many reviews deny this, some attributing it to Obama’s general tendency to dive into concrete detail. But I can’t help but wonder what Obama (or other leaders) are thinking as they write autobiographical material. Surely, they see this as their chance to shape their legacy. How can one not see this as a chance to bolster their story for future generations?

I suppose, in gauging leaders, it’s essential to see them as just other human beings who we have elevated to a pedestal. In deifying them, we also dehumanize them. Their stories will have flaws, and they will have flaws in retelling them. Contradictions will coexist within this one person. Perhaps that’s what makes them human after all.

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I just finished watching “Designated Survivor”, a show with the US president as the protagonist and how he leads a country in crisis. After the first arc, it seemed like every new episode was introducing a new storyline just for the sake of keeping the show going. But now, after reading this book, I realize that this is actually a decent representation of what it means to be the leader of the free world, as it were. It’s a story of constantly dousing fires.

At its core, it is the story of a man who wanted to change the world and what that journey really entailed. Give it a read; Obama is a special person, and this book will show you why.

Postcard

We’re working on the formatting of my upcoming book - The Light of Wilder Things - a memoir about my life searching for nature and wildlife as a teenager. We’re so close now!

Favourite Quote

Here’s one of my favourite quotes from the book:

“At some basic level people were no longer seeing me, I realised, with all my quirks and shortcomings. Instead they had taken possession of my likeness and made it a vessel for a million different dreams.”

Have a creative, wild and inspiring week!

If you’re new, welcome to The Owlet! My name is Ishan Shanavas, and I am an Artist, Photographer, Writer and Student of the Natural World.

Here I talk about my work, along with curating the most interesting ideas on the internet. I confine them to topics like Nature, Culture, Photography, and Art but often fall prey to other genres.

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