One week later

[selenak]

One week of a new American president, and he keeps doing stuff like this. It's strange, feeling like cheering for the US goverment every day I read the news. One keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it might or it might not, but in the meantime, there is this bewildering sensation. A politician. Keeps his campaign promises. Said politician is at the head of the most powerful nation on earth. What?

Incidentally, my mother got Dreams of my Father for Christmas by a friend of hers which meant I've read it, too, and was blown away by the sheer readability, if that's the right word. What I mean: the memoirs of Helmut Kohl are virtually impossible to get through, though they contain the occasional funny highlight which thankfully our papers printed as excerpts. (To wit: Helmut K. and Mrs. Thatcher. They were both conservatives, but he was not a fan, and she apparantly was convinced Germany was just waiting to start WWIII. This led to awkwardness of the retrospectively entertaining kind.) Helmut Schmidt is somewhat more readable - all those years editing Die Zeit paid off - but still not exactly captivating, even when he tells interesting things. (shezan, you'll probably enjoy hearing that he vastly preferred Nixon to Carter, despite being a social democrat. On the other hand, he found Carter and Reagan both equally bewildering as far as religion was concerned. Call it the reaction of a thoroughly secular European leader.) Moving on to American politicians, I found Clinton's memoirs screamed "needed editing", and on the other side of the spectrum, well I tried reading Kissinger. Emphasis on "tried". I gave up and read biographies about him by other people instead.

Now Dreams of my Father isn't exactly a "Portrait of the politician as a young man" type of book (it ends with Obama's first visit to Kenya, years before he became a Senator), more a family history coupled with a finding-one's-identity narrative. But it's well written, it's never less than interesting, and he has the ability to bring the people he writes about to life, whether they are his maternal grandparents, Indonesian step father or his half brother and sister in Kenya. If he ever writes his memoirs about the campaigns and his presidency, I look forward to reading his portraits of everyone from Rahm to Hillary to John McCain to Joe Biden.

And in conclusion: one week, and I still feel like cheering when I open the papers to articles like this one. The rational part in me knows it's bound to end soon, but I'm optimist enough to hope that "soon" is still a bit away.

Comments

[elisi]

and was blown away by the sheer readability, if that's the right word.
It certainly fits. I got it for my birthday last autumn, and couldn't put it down - not only does he have a way with words (impressively so for a first-time author), but what struck me was his introspection, coupled with how he tried to make sense of the world - figuring how society (people) functioned. I found it especially interesting following the election after that, esp Palin's platform, knowing that he'd considered and analysed all these subconscious fears years before. Which I think is one reason why he's so calm.

Anyway, I also enjoyed it quite simply for the story it told. And thank you for the link - it's very impressive seeing it all laid out like that.

but in the meantime, there is this bewildering sensation. A politician. Keeps his campaign promises. Said politician is at the head of the most powerful nation on earth. What?
Hee! You can follow his progress here, if you want: The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

but what struck me was his introspection, coupled with how he tried to make sense of the world - figuring how society (people) functioned.

Yes. It makes for a deeply intelligent and compelling narrator's voice. Now of course that doesn't guarantee anything in terms of what he'll achieve (or mismanage) as President, but it does show he won't fail out of sheer narrow-mindedness, incompetence or stupidity. And as I said, it promises more good books.

Thanks for the link! It made me smile in the best way.

[elisi]

Now of course that doesn't guarantee anything in terms of what he'll achieve (or mismanage) as President, but it does show he won't fail out of sheer narrow-mindedness, incompetence or stupidity.
That's it. To quote one of my favourite stories from Audacity of Hope:

After one town hall meeting in Godfrey, an older gentleman came up and expressed outrage that despite my having opposed the Iraq War, I had not yet called for a full withdrawal of troops. We had a brief and pleasant argument, in which I explained my concern that too precipitous a withdrawal would lead to an all-out civil war in the country and the potential for widening conflict throughout the Middle East. At the end of our conversation he shook my hand.
"I still think you're wrong," he said, "but at least it seems like you've thought about it. Hell, you'd probably disappoint me if you agreed with me all the time."
"Thanks," I said. As he walked away, I was reminded of something Justice Louis Brandeis once said: that in a democracy, the most important office is the office of citizen.

And as I said, it promises more good books.
It does indeed! :)

[crossoverman.livejournal.com]

Have you read "The Audacity of Hope"? I certainly understand what you mean by readability if they are similar - because Audacity was a pleasure to read.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

No, not yet, but I believe you. He's really a good writer.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

I remember 1997, and punching the air as the Labour initiatives we'd been waiting for so long came through.

May the "soon" be some way off!

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

Man, my father, who I'm pretty sure did not vote for Obama but who respects him (I think he respected him a lot more than McCain by the end of the campaign, and that's hard for him to say because he's a longtime McCain supporter) -- anyway, my father has been reading this book and was talking to me about it, and I was mildly shamed because I haven't read it (and it hadn't occurred to me) and really know very little about the new president's life. I had a prejudice against campaign biographies, but I now realize this isn't your run of the mill book of the kind and I'm planning to pick it up.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I had a prejudice against campaign biographies

Me too, which is why I stayed away at first, too, though at some point I read an article which mentioned Dreams of my Father had been published eons ago. But when it showed up on the Christmas tree, I took my chance and am glad I did.

[artaxastra.livejournal.com]

I'm finding it very odd myself....

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Do you think Obama could be my long-lost twin? He keeps doing exactly what I would have done...

Hurrah for the grey wolves.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I figured you'd like the detail with the saved wolves.*g*

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Maggie never thought Germany was about to start WWIII (that was Nicholas Ridley), but she felt Germany and France were ganging up in Europe to shunt Britain to the sidelines. Which, you know, we were...

Schmidt loved Giscard. Nuff said...

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Out of curiousity have you ever read Audacity of Hope? It includes descriptions of his first weeks in the Senate, his Senate campaign, his first impression of President Bush, and a rather lengthy bit about what Indonesia was like - when he was a child and now.

And he writes his reflections on the Presidencies from Nixon through Bush, Jr.

I haven't read Dreams of My Father - so thank you for the review.

Obama's Votes on Bush, Jr.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Sigh, should read other comments before posting.

Here's what he says about Bush, Jr - under the Chapter entitled "Values":

"As I munched on hors d'oeuvres and engaged in small talk with a handful of House members, I recalled my previous two encounters with the President, the first a brief congragulatory call after the election, the second a small White House breakfast with me and the other incoming senators. Both times I found the President to be a likable man, shrewd and disciplined but with the same straightforward manner that had helped him win two elections; you could easily imagine him owning the local car dealership down the street, coaching Little League, and grilling in his backyard - the kind of guy who would make for good company so long as the conversation revolved around sports and kids.

There had been a moment during the breakfast meeting, though, after the backslapping and the small talk and when all of us were seated, with Vice President Cheney eating his eggs Benedict impassively and Karl Rove at the far end of the table discreetly checking his Blackberry, that I witnessed a different side of the man. The President had begun to discuss his second-term agenda, mostly a reiteration of his campaign talking points - the importance of staying the course in Iraq and renewing the Patriot Act, the need to reform Social Security and overhaul the tax system, his determination to get an up-or-down vote on his judicial appointees - when suddenly it felt as if somebody in a back room had flipped a switch. The President's eyes became fixed; his voice took on the agitated, rapid tone of someone neither accustomed to nor welcoming interruption; his easy affability was replaced by an almost messianic certainity. As I watched my mostly Republican Senate collegaues hand on his every word, I was reminded of the dangerous isolation that power can bring, and appreciated the Founder's wisdom in designing a system to keep power in check."

Here later is his first meeting with Bush:

"Come over here for a second," [President Bush] said, leading me off to the side of the room. "You know," he said quietly, "I hope you don't mind me giving you a piece of advice."

"Not at all, Mr. President."

He nodded. "You've got a bright future," he said. "Very bright. But I've been in this town awhile and, let me tell you, it can be tough. When you get a lot of attention like you've been getting, people start gunnin' for ya. And it won't necessarily be coming from my side, you understand. From yours, too. Everybody'll be waiting for you to slip, know what I mean? So watch yourself."

"Thanks for the advice, Mr. President."

"All right. I gotta get going. You know, me and you got something in common."

"What's that?"

"We both had to debate Alan Keyes. That guy's a piece of work, isn't he?"

"I laughed, and as we walked to the door I told him a few stories from the campaign. It wasn't until he had left the room that I realized I had briefly put my arm over his shoulder as we talked - an unconscious habit of mine, but one that I suspected might have made many of my friends, not to mention the Secret Service agents in the room, more than a little uneasy."

That passage amongst many others made up my mind that this guy should be President. Don't misunderstand - I despise Bush, but I respect Obama for how he chose to deal with Bush.

Re: Obama's Votes on Bush, Jr.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Sorry for the subject heading - it should be Obama's Thoughts on Bush. I have no idea why I wrote Votes. Weird.

Re: Obama's Votes on Bush, Jr.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the excerpt! I'll make sure to read The Audacity of Hope as well, now. And hey, don't worry about the vote/thought switch - it's pound to happen when one talks of politicians...