David Mendell

After reading this I realized that Toby Ziegler was right. During the seventh season of the West Wing, he told Joshua Lyman that Matt Santos, the democratic nominee for President of the United States, would not win because he did not have the necessary hubris to be the leader of the free world. Of course, as watchers, we were cheering from Jimmy Smits (although I was never able to shake my crush on Alan Alda from his MASH days) and we dismissed Toby as "sour grapes". The man was facing show more significant prison time, we surmised.

After reading this book and his two autobiographies, I have to conclude that as much as I may admire the cool and collected Barack Obama, he DOES have the hubris. It rings through loud and clear. I'm not saying that he's the only one - it's probably true for anyone running for a political office - but it does bring the fairytale down to reality. show less

David Mendell is a political reporter for the Chicago Tribune, and has been covering Obama since he first ran for the Illinois State Senate. Though this book is a sort of biography on Obama and covers an overview of his early life, what the book really is is the memoir of the author's time covering Obama's campaign for state office in Illinois and then his run for the U.S. Senate.

What we see is the reporter's view of Obama on the campaign trail from when he decided to run for state office, show more his run for U.S. Senate seat and up to his announcement to run for president of the United States in the 2008 campaign cycle where the book ends. Some people claim the beginning of the book is slow but what I found making want to stop reading was how the author was in awe of his obvious hero Obama. The way he begins to write is as if he is an insider propagandist. But keep reading and we will see the writing evolve. For the author eventually starts to share what he views and the distance starts to grow between the author and the subject as Obama gains power.

As the book progresses Mendell does share his opinion on how thin-skinned Obama is about any criticism of himself and how he tried so hard to let no one knows he smokes. The candidates great lack of stamina in campaigning or performing sustained work. Yet at the same time we read how while working his day job Obama stayed up late at night writing his books. So it is not the hard work but the pressures of being watched at all times that may be the problem. The careful documentation of Obama's campaign’s show just how luck was the major factor in him winning office and the willingness he had to realize that in order to move forward he needed professional handlers to win. These we find in David Axelrod and Robert Gibbs.

Obama claimed to be liberal and his voting record when he voted was for the most part very liberal but he was smart enough to know when he campaigned he had to lean toward the center and avoid controversial bills or subjects. There is no question that when Obama is rested and well prepared his charm is evident and he can win over crowds with his demeanor even though his words never cover any specifics. His main speeches of unity and non-partisanship is what the American people and people of the world want as can be read from the reactions of the crowds those speeches garnered. This man still has time to live up to people's expectations as reinforced by his stump speeches.

I am glad I continued to read Mendell's memoir for it gives more insight into the man from a Journalistic insider from Chicago. The author states Obama is imperious, mercurial, self-righteous and an extraordinarily ambitious, competitive man. But I ask you what person who seeks the highest office is not ambitious and competitive. show less

A fairly good biography of Obama, focusing primarily on his upbringing until his Senate victory in 2004. The author was the Tribune reporter chronicling Obama's campaigns, and therefore the book emphasizes the author's interactions with Obama, particularly at the end. The coverage of Obama's Africa trip was a bit too expansive. The book ends with Obama's announcement of his 2008 presidential campaign.

The book does a good job of demonstrating Obama's quick ascension into national politics, show more and shows both his strengths and weaknesses in a fairly even-handed way. Overall, a good look into Obama and his past. show less

Mendell is a Chicago Tribune reporter who has been covering Obama since he began his campaign for the Senate.

Obama: From Promise to Power covers Obama's entire life, although it's much more detailed during the time Obama was in Chicago, and very detailed from the beginning of Obama's Senate campaign. It ends with Obama's announcement of his presidential campaign.

The book is heavily notated, with a great deal of material coming from personal interviews with Obama, Obama's family and people show more from his staff and working on his campaigns. The author spent time in Hawaii to get a sense of what it was like for Obama as a youth. In addition, he does quote Dreams from my Father and The Audacity of Hope as well.

Mendell is not totally fawning - it does have criticisms of Obama - but I would say Mendell likes his subject. It does offer opinions different from Obama's own memoirs.

Although I was interested in learning more about Obama, this book did not hold my interest. At 387 pages, I expected to be through it pretty quickly. Yet I was mired down in the middle of the book, where eight chapters (albeit not very long ones) covered the bulk of his Senate campaign. It wasn't until the about the end of his campaign, and the chapter on his speech to the 2004 Democratic National Convention that the book started to move a little more quickly. Perhaps this was just a little too much detail for me.

Towards the end, there were three chapters on his trip to Africa, which I found very interesting, and then finally the last chapter leading up to Obama's declaration of his run for the presidency.

So, I liked parts of it and I learned a lot, but it was slow going. show less