The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
by Barack Obama
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Book Summary Information
Author: Barack ObamaEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-11-06
ISBN: 0307237702
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Product features:
- Republicans and Democrats
- Values
- Our Constitution
- Politics
- Opportunity & Faith
Book Reviews of The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
Book Review: Audacity of Hope
Summary: 5 Stars
The book is a straight forward read with substance and heart. I recommend it to anyone who plans to vote in November 2008.
Here are some representative out-takes from the book to give you a feel for the content of the book:
P11 & 12 - I wish the country had fewer lawyers and more engineers. I think America has more often been a force for good than for ill in the world; I carry few illustrations about our enemies, and revere the courage and competence of our military. I reject a politics that is based solely on racial identity, gender identity, sexual orientation, or victimhood generally. I think much of what ails the inner city involves a breakdown in culture that will not be cured by money alone, and that our values and spiritual life matter at least as much as our GDP.
P15 - In the world's greatest deliberative body, no one is listening.
P16 - With the rest of the public, I had watched campaign culture metastasize throughout the body politics, as an entire industry of insult - both perpetual and somehow profitable - emerged to dominate cable TV, talk radio, and the New York Times best-seller list.
P17 - Throughout my years in Springfield, I had clung to the notion that politics could be different, and that the voters wanted something different; that they were tired of distortion, name-calling, and sound bite solutions to complicated problems; that if I could reach those voters directly, frame the issues as I felt them, explain the choices in as truthful a fashion as I knew how, then the people's instincts for fair play and common sense would bring them around. If enough of us took that risk, I thought, not only the country's politics but the country's policies would change for the better.
P22 - It's not simply that a gap exists between our professed ideals as a nation and the reality we witness every day. --- No, what's troubling is the gap between the magnitude of our challenges and the smallness of our politics - the ease with which we are distracted by the petty and trivial, our chronic avoidance of tough decisions, our seeming inability to build a working consensus to tackle any big problem.
P23 - We know that the battle against international terrorism is at once an armed struggle and a contest of ideas, that our long-term security depends on both a judicious projection of military power and increased cooperation with other nations, and that addressing the problem of global poverty and failed states is vital to our nation's interest rather than just a matter of charity. But follow most of our foreign policy debate, and you might believe that we have only 2 choices - belligerence or isolationism.
P37 - What has characterized the ideological core of today's GOP is absolutism, not conservatism. There is the absolutism of the free market, an ideology of no taxes, no regulation, no safety net - indeed, no government beyond what's required to protect private property and provide for the national defense.
P41 & 42 - Maybe the critics are right. Maybe there's no escaping our great political divide, an endless clash of armies, and any attempt to alter the rules of engagement are futile. Or maybe the trivialization of politics has reached a point of no return, so that most people see it as just one more diversion, a sport, with politicians our paunch-bellied gladiators and those who bother to pay attention just fans on the sidelines: we paint our faces red and blue and cheer our side and boo their side, and if it takes a late hit or cheap shot to beat the other team, so be it, for winning is all that matters.
But I don't think so. They are out there, I think to myself, those ordinary citizens who have grown up in the midst of all the political and cultural battles, but who have found a way - in their own lives, at least - to make peace with their neighbors, and themselves. --- I imagine they are waiting for a politics with the maturity to balance idealism and realism, to distinguish between what can and cannot be compromised, to admit the possibility that the other side might sometimes have a point. They don't always understand the arguments between right and left, conservative and liberal, but they recognize the difference between dogma and common sense, responsibility and irresponsibility, between those things that last and those that are fleeting. They are out there, waiting for Republicans and Democrats to catch up with them.
P53 & 54 - "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Those simple words are our starting point as Americans; they describe not only the foundation of our government but the substance of our common creed.
The value of individual freedom is so deeply ingrained in us that we tend to take it for granted. It is easy to forget that at the time of our nation's founding this idea was entirely radical in its implications, as radical as Martin Luther's posting on the church door. It is an idea that some portion of the world still rejects - and for which an even larger portion of humanity finds scant evidence in their daily lives.
P54 & 55 - At its most elemental level, we understand our liberty in a negative sense. As a general rule we believe in the right to be left alone, and are suspicious of those - whether Big Brother or nosy neighbors - who want to meddle in our business. But we understand our liberty in a more positive sense as well, in the idea of opportunity and the subsidiary values that help realize opportunity - self-reliance, self-improvement, risk-taking, drive, discipline, temperance, hard work, thrift, personal responsibility, optimism, faith in free will, self-government, free-market economy, family, community, patriotism, honesty, fairness, humility, kindness, courtesy, compassion manners, competence, civil behavior, moral bearings, authenticity, empathy, fairness ...etc.
P59-60 - Despite what seemed to be a death penalty system ripe for reform, few people gave my bill much chance of passing. ... It would have been typical of today's politics for each side to draw lines in the sand: for the death penalty opponents to harp on racism and police misconduct and for law enforcement to suggest that my bill coddled criminals. ... Instead of focusing on the serious disagreements around the table, I talked about the common value that I believed everyone shared, regardless of how each of us might feel about the death penalty: that is, the basic principle that no innocent person should end up on death row, and that no person guilty of a capital offense should go free. ... At the end of the process, the bill had the support of all parties involved. It passed unanimously in the IL Senate and was signed into law.
P86 - For all our disagreements we would be hard pressed to find (someone) ... who doesn't subscribe to the basic set of individual liberties identified by the Founders and enshrined in our Constitution and our common law:
The right to speak our minds;
The right to worship how and if we please;
The right to peaceably assemble to petition our government;
The right to own, buy and sell property and not have it taken without fair compensation;
The right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures;
The right not to be detained by the state without due process;
The right to a fair and speedy trial;
And the right to make our own determinations, with minimal restrictions, regarding family life and the way we raise our children.
We consider these rights to be universal, a codification of liberty's meaning, constraining all levels of government and applicable to all people within the boundaries of our political community.
P100 - "So few people read the Constitution today," Sen. Byrd said, pulling out his copy from his breast pocket. "I've always said, this document and the Holy Bible, they've been all the guidance I need."
Before I left, he insisted that his secretary bring in a set of his Senate histories for me to have. As he slowly set the beautifully bound books on the table and searched for a pen, I told him how remarkable it was that he had found the time to write.
"Oh, I have been fortunate," he said, nodding to himself. "Much to be thankful for. There's not much I wouldn't do over." Suddenly he paused and looked squarely into my eyes. "I only have one regret, you know. The foolishness of youth ..."
We sat there for a moment, considering the gap of years and experience between us.
"We all have regrets, Senator," I said finally. "We just ask that in the end, God's grace shines upon us."
He studied my face for a moment, then nodded with the slightest of smiles and flipped open the cover of one of the books. "God's grace. Yes indeed. Let me sign these for you then," he said, and taking one hand to steady the other, he slowly scratched his name on the gift.
P294 & 295 - When a group of Chicago activists asked me to speak at a large antiwar rally planned for Oct, (2002), a number of my friends warned me against taking so public a position on such a volatile issue. Not only was the idea of an invasion increasingly popular, but on the merits I didn't consider the case against war to be cut-and-dried. Like most analysts, I assumed Saddam had chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear arms. I believed that he had repeatedly flouted UN resolutions and weapons inspectors and that such behavior had to have consequences. That Saddam butchered his own people was undisputed; I had no doubt that the world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him.
What I sensed, though, was that the threat Saddam posed was not imminent, the Administration's rationales for the war were flimsy and ideologically driven, and the war in Afghanistan was far from complete. And I was certain that by choosing precipitous, unilateral military action over the hard slog of diplomacy, coercive inspections, and smart sanctions, America was missing an opportunity to build a broad base of support for its policies.
And so I made the speech. ... I also said that "after witnessing the carnage and destruction (in NY), the dust and the tears, I supported this Administration's pledge to hunt down and root out those who would slaughter innocents in the name of intolerance" and would "willingly take up arms myself to prevent such tragedy from happening again."
What I could not support was "a dumb war, a rash war, a war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics." And I said:
" I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rational and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than the best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment of Al Qaeda.
P356 & 357 - The audacity of hope. That was the best of the American spirit, I thought - having the audacity to believe despite all the evidence to the contrary that we could restore a sense of community to a nation torn by conflict; the gall to believe that despite personal setbacks ...we had some control - and therefore responsibility - for our own fate.
It was that audacity, I thought, that joined us as one people. It was that pervasive spirit that tied my own family's story to the larger American story.
P362 - My heart is filled with love for this country.
Summary of The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
In July 2004, Barack Obama electrified the Democratic National Convention with an address that spoke to Americans across the political spectrum. One phrase in particular anchored itself in listeners? minds, a reminder that for all the discord and struggle to be found in our history as a nation, we have always been guided by a dogged optimism in the future, or what Obama called ?the audacity of hope.?The Audacity of Hope is Barack Obama?s call for a different brand of politics?a politics for those weary of bitter partisanship and alienated by the ?endless clash of armies? we see in congress and on the campaign trail; a politics rooted in the faith, inclusiveness, and nobility of spirit at the heart of ?our improbable experiment in democracy.? He explores those forces?from the fear of losing to the perpetual need to raise money to the power of the media?that can stifle even the best-intentioned politician. He also writes, with surprising intimacy and self-deprecating humor, about settling in as a senator, seeking to balance the demands of public service and family life, and his own deepening religious commitment.
At the heart of this book is Barack Obama?s vision of how we can move beyond our divisions to tackle concrete problems. He examines the growing economic insecurity of American families, the racial and religious tensions within the body politic, and the transnational threats?from terrorism to pandemic?that gather beyond our shores. And he grapples with the role that faith plays in a democracy?where it is vital and where it must never intrude. Underlying his stories about family, friends, and members of the Senate is a vigorous search for connection: the foundation for a radically hopeful political consensus.
A public servant and a lawyer, a professor and a father, a Christian and a skeptic, and above all a student of history and human nature, Barack Obama has written a book of transforming power. Only by returning to the principles that gave birth to our Constitution, he says, can Americans repair a political process that is broken, and restore to working order a government that has fallen dangerously out of touch with millions of ordinary Americans. Those Americans are out there, he writes??waiting for Republicans and Democrats to catch up with them.?
From the Hardcover edition.
Barack Obama's first book, Dreams from My Father, was a compelling and moving memoir focusing on personal issues of race, identity, and community. With his second book The Audacity of Hope, Obama engages themes raised in his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, shares personal views on faith and values and offers a vision of the future that involves repairing a "political process that is broken" and restoring a government that has fallen out of touch with the people. We had the opportunity to ask Senator Obama a few questions about writing, reading, and politics--see his responses below. --Daphne Durham
20 Second Interview: A Few Words with Barack Obama
Q: How did writing a book that you knew would be read so closely by so many compare to writing your first book, when few people knew who you were?A: In many ways, Dreams from My Father was harder to write. At that point, I wasn't even sure that I could write a book. And writing the first book really was a process of self-discovery, since it touched on my family and my childhood in a much more intimate way. On the other hand, writing The Audacity of Hope paralleled the work that I do every day--trying to give shape to all the issues that we face as a country, and providing my own personal stamp on them.
Q: What is your writing process like? You have such a busy schedule, how did you find time to write?
A: I'm a night owl, so I usually wrote at night after my Senate day was over, and after my family was asleep--from 9:30 p.m. or so until 1 a.m. I would work off an outline--certain themes or stories that I wanted to tell--and get them down in longhand on a yellow pad. Then I'd edit while typing in what I'd written.
Q: If readers are to come away from The Audacity of Hope with one action item (a New Year's Resolution for 2007, perhaps?), what should it be?
A: Get involved in an issue that you're passionate about. It almost doesn?t matter what it is--improving the school system, developing strategies to wean ourselves off foreign oil, expanding health care for kids. We give too much of our power away, to the professional politicians, to the lobbyists, to cynicism. And our democracy suffers as a result.
Q: You're known for being able to work with people across ideological lines. Is that possible in today's polarized Washington?
A: It is possible. There are a lot of well-meaning people in both political parties. Unfortunately, the political culture tends to emphasize conflict, the media emphasizes conflict, and the structure of our campaigns rewards the negative. I write about these obstacles in chapter 4 of my book, "Politics." When you focus on solving problems instead of scoring political points, and emphasize common sense over ideology, you'd be surprised what can be accomplished. It also helps if you're willing to give other people credit--something politicians have a hard time doing sometimes.
Q: How do you make people passionate about moderate and complex ideas?
A: I think the country recognizes that the challenges we face aren't amenable to sound-bite solutions. People are looking for serious solutions to complex problems. I don't think we need more moderation per se--I think we should be bolder in promoting universal health care, or dealing with global warming. We just need to understand that actually solving these problems won't be easy, and that whatever solutions we come up with will require consensus among groups with divergent interests. That means everybody has to listen, and everybody has to give a little. That's not easy to do.
Q: What has surprised you most about the way Washington works?
A: How little serious debate and deliberation takes place on the floor of the House or the Senate.
Q: You talk about how we have a personal responsibility to educate our children. What small thing can the average parent (or person) do to help improve the educational system in America? What small thing can make a big impact?
A: Nothing has a bigger impact than reading to children early in life. Obviously we all have a personal obligation to turn off the TV and read to our own children; but beyond that, participating in a literacy program, working with parents who themselves may have difficulty reading, helping their children with their literacy skills, can make a huge difference in a child's life.
Q: Do you ever find time to read? What kinds of books do you try to make time for? What is on your nightstand now?
A: Unfortunately, I had very little time to read while I was writing. I'm trying to make up for lost time now. My tastes are pretty eclectic. I just finished Marilynne Robinson?s Gilead, a wonderful book. The language just shimmers. I've started Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, which is a great study of Lincoln as a political strategist. I read just about anything by Toni Morrison, E.L. Doctorow, or Philip Roth. And I've got a soft spot for John le Carre.
Q: What inspires you? How do you stay motivated?
A: I'm inspired by the people I meet in my travels--hearing their stories, seeing the hardships they overcome, their fundamental optimism and decency. I'm inspired by the love people have for their children. And I'm inspired by my own children, how full they make my heart. They make me want to work to make the world a little bit better. And they make me want to be a better man.
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