In the preface to A Promised Land , Barack Obama writes of American democracy that it is teetering on the brink of crisis. Published and re...
In the preface to A Promised Land, Barack Obama writes of American democracy that it is teetering on the brink of crisis. Published and read in the wake of an election that proved to be a reinforcement rather than a repudiation of Trump-era politics, this line rings resoundingly true. The world watches “America’s experiment in democracy” with bated breath, Obama writes. This watching has not ended despite what some may deem a favourable electoral outcome, it has been heightened.
Nevertheless, regardless of outcome, he mentions that he is unwilling to abandon what he considers the possibility of America. These words hint at the tone of the remaining chapters. The autobiography is simultaneously many things, at times a meditation on race and ambition and the personal becoming political, or an account of a presidency from the room where it happened. Above all, however, it is fuelled by this idea of possibility, and proves itself to be a full-throated defence and corroboration of Obama’s hope and change philosophy.
The promise of America
Obama, in an interview with Scott Pelley, attributes the title to his faith that a more perfect union – and he is careful to call it relatively more perfect rather than entirely perfect – can be arrived at. An expedition...
