A Promised Land

A Promise was made! and the promise was kept.

First in a series to come, 700 pages, as thick as the width of a palm, keeps you at it for hours, excitedly turning pages, provokes your thoughts and leaves you gasping at multiple instances, eager to know what comes next. The story of a man, who unites everyone in his admiration despite their differences, is prove in itself of his unimaginable feats. Barrack Obama, takes you on a journey from his childhood to his first term as the president of the United States. As the story unfolds, he leaves you with a part of himself, impacting you forever and you can with ease name that part ‘hope’.

A teenager born and brought up in America, a place of cultural amalgamation through virtue of its rich history. He himself is from a mix of origins and more than often finds it hard to understand where he truly belonged. It was his longing to find his place and purpose that he made the entire world his community and serving it; his purpose.

A bright student, with conviction towards ideas of what could be; a drive for creating a better, more accepting and equal world. He worked his way to Harvard, to pursue law; he became the editor of Harvard Law Review which assured multiple offers at multi-billion dollar companies, but for who he was, he chose to be a volunteer in Chicago, working closely with people directly affected by his work. He understood something important at a young age through volunteering; A truth present in plain sight, unnoticed.

People are the same. They have similar needs, circumstances, aspirations and hopes, regardless of the constructs of differences that separate us so much. Everyone wants a better meaningful life, appreciation and love, no matter their gender, race or cast. Just a little compassion and care can change a life; give meaning, joy or inspiration to someone who desperately needs it.

It was who he was and what he did that shaped him to be the right choice for the president that the world needed. All his passions and their pursuit defined his path to becoming more; an abstract idea that developed in our minds of what could be. A teacher by the day, a writer by the night; someone who would sit and gaze somewhere in his room under the dim of a light in the middle of the night, thinking about how to eradicate poverty or finding a solution to some other macro level problem, carefully thinking through ideas and mindfully forming some version of a plan that could come into reality, working towards his midnight thoughts as a senator in the day.

It was for two heart wrenching events; a first hand witness of what effects of unnecessary war looks like and the plight of displaced people from a natural catastrophe; that pivot him in his early forties to make the decision of ascending in his political career so that he can meaningfully impact the lives of people he really wanted to help.

Maybe it was his optimism and enthusiasm, or his beacon full of new and refreshing ideas, well thought and long awaited. Or it was the fact that he represented so many people in different ways who were never in a position of power. Maybe it was his color or his name, or the fact that he grew up guided by strong and determined women or because he married a woman who is inspiring. Maybe it was the power and strength he felt when his daughters looked at him, maybe it was because he cared so deeply or because of his “Fired up! Ready to go” attitude. Maybe his well thought of stance on unthought-of wars, or because he really cared about the planet we live on or the idea of healthcare accessible to all. Maybe it was the reformative power of his words and actions or the vision he held of America truly leading into a future everyone collectively dreamt of. Maybe it was all of this and more; but whatever it was; it was all that America was asking for or probably more than that. One thing was for sure, he was offering the promised land.

The book is a treat for anyone who wants to get a first hand narrative of all the current affairs that happened before and while his presidency, that too from the inside. No words of mine can justify the experience and the details that he so passionately explains in the book. It is a masterpiece with photographic memory like description on everything, his heart poured out, like people do in their journals. As a reader I intimately feel like a part of every thought, analysis and decision.

His campaign unfolds into presidency in 2009, with the love and support entrusted in him, he won by an unbeatable margin. He was the hope of new, but jinxed by the pulls of a dying economy.

He was elected when the economy was in a barrel toppling down a hill top at an accelerating speed, bumping into and toppling down rocks, the onset of financial crisis. It was like a car crashed into a wall, keys handed to him with the duty of reviving it and then winning a race; and he did exactly that. Through saving the banks,uplifting the citizens by government spending, and introducing checks on banks and wall street; the situation stabilized. At the same time investing in the future like clean energy, education etc to create employment in sectors of the economy that were due of attention, leading to direly needed sustainability.

Throughout his first tenure he made his country more functional and responsive to the daily needs of its people, supporting them through Obamacare with insurance coverage for more people who couldn’t access even the most basic of healthcare, he was able to get it done no matter the filibusters. He was so thorough with nitty gritty of the fine print of law, that he would always find ways to make things work irrelevant of how powerless he and his team were in the face of opposition.

A climate advocate matched with his phenomenal force when it came to foreign delegation lead to results. At climate accords he would get all nations to agree to consensus, considered almost impossible at a global level. He was like a gangster in negotiations, funnily bombing meetings to which he wasn’t invited.

His strong belief in diplomacy ensured that he avoided unwanted wars if they can be talked out of in the first place. By dint of his diligence in planning, the world became witness of meaningful collaborations among international governments like mitigating war against Gaddafi with intercontinental corporation, much needed in a globalized world.

These are just a few examples to name his accomplishments in the first term, you should definitely read the book to feel the journey like your very own.

Every decision made in his presidency factored in multiple factors, a massive optimization problem where the best choice would often just help avoid the impeding worse to come, not progressing forward. He would always form a wholesome team suited for any job, with experts best in the field with right emotional motivation and driving intentions, chalking out all possible scenarios and going with the most optimal way ahead. These solution were like mathematical proofs, taking into account all possible constraints, reallocating available resources in best way possible, structurally injecting steady changes that often go missed but truly shape the present and the future.

The time between legislation and execution of colossal decisions, would often leave him in calculation of the aftermath: contemplated success or perpetual failure. So was his state when Osama bin Laden’s arrest was enacted across borders as a highly secret operation, it’s success relieving him. America stood up in ovation, regardless of different opinions on most matters, united against terrorism. It was this unity that often melted his heart with joy, reassured him about why he does what he does and hopeful to find this unity on other matters that matter.

He believed he did way more than nothing but not even close to enough and the book ended.