Obama: From Promise to Power

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Obama:
From Promise to Power
LC Class
E901.1.O23 M46 2007

Obama: From Promise to Power is a 2007

his campaign for the U.S. Senate in Illinois. The book utilizes both first-hand research (from Mendell's original reporting) and a wide range of interviews with Obama's aides, mentors, political adversaries, and family.[1]

Obama: From Promise to Power was one of the first biographies of the

Don Van Natta, Jr.[2]

John J. Pitney, Jr., of National Review Online termed Obama: From Promise to Power "the single best source of background information on our new president."[3] Calling the book "generally sympathetic to its subject, but … not a hagiography," Pitney praised Mendell for taking note of Obama's faults and "considerable ego," citing in particular the opening of the book, in which Obama confidently states, "I'm LeBron, baby. I can play on this level. I got some game," shortly before speaking at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.[3] Tim Russert, host of NBC's Meet the Press, was particularly impressed with Mendell's frank assessments of Obama's flaws and ambition, such as: "What the public has yet to see clearly is his hidden side, his imperious, mercurial, self-righteous, and sometimes prickly nature, each quality exacerbated by the enormous career pressures that he has inflicted upon himself."[4] A WLS-TV review of Obama: From Promise to Power said the book "carries with it a certain oral history-style wholeness,"[5] due to the variety of people profiled from Obama's life. The review said Mendell's long history of first-hand news coverage of Obama lent the book "both an insider's perspective and a journalist's shrewd critical eye, and the portrait that he paints of Obama is more comprehensive than any previous treatment of this remarkable man".[5]

In February 2008, Obama: From Promise to Power won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in the Biography/Autobiography category.[6]

References

  1. ISBN 978-0060858209
    .
  2. ^ Gordon, Jesse (2008-04-01). "Obama: From Promise to Power, by David Mendell". On the Issues. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
  3. ^ a b "An NRO Symposium: All I want for Christmas..." National Review Online. 2008-11-26.
  4. ^ Russert, Tim (2007-08-05). "Meet the Press". Meet the Press.
  5. ^ a b "Obama: From Promise to Power". WLS-TV. 2009-01-19.
  6. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. 2008-01-08. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 2009-02-12. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
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