Renegade: The Making of a President by Richard Wolffe
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Book Reviews of Renegade: The Making of a President
Book Review: Renegade: the Prescience of a Reporter
Summary: 5 Stars
When Barack Obama suggested to Richard Wolffe that he write a book about the Obama campaign and the 2008 election, Wolffe dismissed the idea, noting "There's too much coverage....People are consuming everything about the election." (p. 330) That's true and indeed, there is not much new to be discovered in this book about the events that led up to President Obama's election. But musicians often say that the music occurs between the notes, and so too, the "real story" of the Obama campaign happened between or around the events, during those moments when important choices are made, when tears are shed, or during philosophical conversations on a bus in the middle of the night.
Wolffe attempts (successfully, I think) to illuminate those moments between the events, when Barack Obama's character is revealed through his decision-making and through his interactions with the people around him. It's a tough job. Wolffe walks the thin line between being too analytic and impersonal and collapsing into soap opera. His simple and straightforward writing style helps to keep him on the straight and narrow in this regard, never slipping into a gossipy tone, even with the personal material, and never sounding bombastic in his analysis.
Wolffe's story about traveling with Barack Obama during his campaign for the presidency betrays a surprising humility on the part of the author. Given the unprecedented access he had to the candidate during the entire campaign, I imagine the temptation would be great to write a Barack and Me kind of memoir. But he succeeds in making himself almost completely invisible until the Afterword, when he talks about the similarities between his and Obama's upbringing. (It's a very touching and appropriate ending to the story.) Instead, he focuses on Obama's character and personality--how he came to be the person he is today. I came away from the book with a clearer understanding of the philosophical ground upon which Barack Obama stands.
I originally wrote this review about a year ago, not bothering to submit it to the website. When I went back at the beginning of 2010 and reread it, I was struck by my original closing line: "He [Obama] will disappoint both conservatives and progressives, because, as Wolffe makes clear, he is not about pleasing one side or the other, but about finding common ground between them." The temptation is to applaud my own prescience but really, the credit belongs to Wolffe for writing a book which so accurately predicts the particular challenges of the Obama presidency. That makes it a very important, and useful, book.
Book Review: Our "First Renegade" And How He Got There
Summary: 5 Stars
Richard Wolffe's comprehensive, intelligent, critical and even-handed account of the making of a President is a page-turner, even though we all know how it all turns out. One interesting theme explored by Wolffe is the role played in the campaign by the 24/7 media and concomitant 24-hour news cycle. Clearly, to Obama and other candidates, the media was a force to be controlled, rather than merely a disseminator of information. Wolffe depicts the pundits as loose cannons rather than analysts, implying that not the least of Obama's achievements was a successful interruption of the Republican narrative -- swallowed whole by much of the media -- that attempted to depict Obama as an "alien" (one of Wolffe's chapter heading) and reduce complex domestic and foreign policy to simplistic cliches about patriotism and national security.
Barack Obama emerges as a thoughtful, careful, very smart, self-confident individual who planned each stage of his campaign carefully and, despite his prior lack of executive experience, ran his more experienced staff rather than permitting that staff to run him. Wolffe shows Obama as grasping, not merely issues, but also process, a planner and strategist who was deeply involved in the planning and execution of his campaign, including the brilliant Internet campaign that transformed the principles of community organizing into organization on a national scale. The title "Renegade" -- the Secret Service's code name for candidate Obama -- is ironic, in that Obama broke all the rules but, in doing so, "played the game" better than his more experienced rivals. Basketball is Obama's favorite game and a central metaphor in Wolffe's story, which depicts the "renegade" Obama as a "team player" of great creativity and vision.
I am an Obama supporter who continues to be impressed by our new President's ability to handle a myriad of complicated issues with intelligence, judgment and grace. Yet anyone with an interest in the political process, and the role of 21st-century media in that process, will appreciate this book. It is a worthy successor to previous
"Making of the President" texts, a real "insider's" view of the very innovative, successful, Obama campaign.
Book Review: A deep, complex, marvelously written, humorous and thought-provoking book.
Summary: 5 Stars
Written with a reporter's keen eye for observation, a commentator's penchant for analysis, and the affinity and fondness for humor of an anchorman of late night shows, "Renegade: The Making of a President", a biographical book on President Obama, is a joy to read. Even though this book is based mostly on information gathered by the author during Mr. Obama's campaign for President, it reads like a biography of President Obama because the author has chosen to include a lot of biographical information also.
Interspersed with humor and witty comments throughout the book, the book is a joy to read. For example, when Obama decides to offer the job of Secretary of State to Mrs. Clinton, one of Obama's senior aids says: "There was a lot of encouragement from inside the Senate to get her into this job. They wanted her out of there."
Unlike several of his former colleagues in the senate, Obama holds no grudges and he tends to forgive people: "His staff opposed the idea for the most part, arguing that Clinton would never be truly loyal. But Obama was willing to leave the primaries behind, including his own strong feelings at the time. "I don't hold grudges," he told his aides. "I don't worry about the past. I'm concerned about what happens now. If she can help me and Bill Clinton isn't too much of a liability, we should seriously look at this."
The word "Renegade" refers to the code word the Secret service used for candidate Obama. I have no doubt that the code has now been changed. Those who have read President Obama's two autobiographical books, "Dreams from my Father" and "The audacity of Hope" will get a deeper insight into the President's life, beliefs, philosophy and character. How his work as a community organizer has influenced his thoughts, ideals and beliefs is explained here very lucidly.
"Renegade: The Making of a President" is a complex, marvelously written, deep, humorous and thought-provoking book.
Book Review: Pitch perfect
Summary: 5 Stars
For those of us who have gotten to know Richard Wolffe over time with his peppery-staccato delivery, a question could be asked... "can he also write?" Indeed he can, and more. "Renegade", the best look at Barack Obama and the campaign thus far, presents a combination of recent history and wonderful insight.
Wolffe, who had extraordinary personal access to Obama, is no stranger to American politics and his keen observations make this book sail. As one would expect, there is much coverage of the campaign itself and while the usual cast of characters... McCain, Palin, Biden, etc. make appearances... the most intriguing is his opponent-cum-ally, Hillary Clinton. The author's finest moments come when he describes the complex relationship between the two and how they eventually formed their present partnership.
But it is Barack Obama, himself, that Wolffe helps us to understand. If a recurring question during the campaign (most often posed by Republicans, it seemed) was "who is Obama?" then the author really succeeds, as best anyone can, at explaining our forty-fourth president. Wolffe takes Obama (who is often brooding and somewhat politically mercurial) and seeks to connect the president, his thoughts and feelings, his outlook and his temperament to people who find Obama a man of particular interest.
Wolffe, himself, stays largely in the background and there are few direct references to any conversations they had during the many months on the campaign trail. Yet at the end, the author allows himself some sunshine and how he became convinced, with Obama's suggestion, to write this book. "Renegade" is far more than an iteration of a race for the presidency...yes, it's a terrific analysis of the methods by which a person can become president, but in this case it is also an examination of an individual who, two years ago, became the most unusual and perhaps the most remarkable person ever to enter a campaign for the White House.
Book Review: Not the book I expected, much better
Summary: 5 Stars
Renegade takes neither a positive or negative view the 44th President of the United States. During what turned out to be the longest most expensive presidential campaign in American history, there were so many inside details that seemed to be missed. When did Barack Obama decide he wanted to run for president? What were the internal discussions like among his family and advisors? What was the thinking that inspired such skillful political maneuvering around race and Jeremiah Wright, the whisper campaign that he was secretly Muslim, open accusations that he "palled around with terrorist", or even questions about his place of birth and his legality as a candidate. There are so many twists and turns in the his rise to power that the drama almost writes itself, but Wolffe is not a lazy writer, clearly he took time to go deeper into the candidates life and conduct intimate interviews with Barack, Michelle, and many of his closest advisors to get a clear idea of who this man is by examining his most difficult undertaking.
If you followed the campaign closely and think you know all there is to know about his campaign, pick up this book. There are plenty of funny and insightful details that were overlooked by the 24/7 coverage. That this book examines in a way regular news media didn't have the inclination to explore. This book is for an audience that cares about politics. This books is for people who want a better understanding of who the President is want a window into his thinking on issues that go beyond sound bites and digs deep into his political philosophy. It's a book that will remind you of things you thought you'd forgotten about and shows you new details you never knew you missed. Quite frankly it's one of the best books about modern politics I've read.