Pursuit of Promise: the Obama Story
('A Promised Land' :Barack Obama- a brief review
Dr. K. A. Kumar
During the first summer of the millennium, on 9/11 when the Twin Tower tumbled down and New York shuddered under the heinous lethal might of Terrorism, Michelle Obama was taking Malia to her first day in pre.school at Chicago. Later on the day the three month old Sasha was lying relaxed on the chest of her father ,as the latter sat pondering on shattered dream of an America he nurtured all along- an America that stands for all that is noble and best in human beings. The sense of safety and security for millions of citizens got torn apart in US, while the faith in the progress of human civilization evaporated all over the world on that dreadful day.
Tenth year since that disaster, Barack Obama, now in the third year of his presidency, along with his core group in the government, was watching online at the White House, the execution of the highly challenging task of capturing Osama Bin Laden from his high secure hide out, thousands of miles away at Abbottabad in Pakistan. Capturing and annihilating Bin Laden, the mastermind of 9/11 and gruesome IS terrorist acts all over the world was entrusted to the highly skilled Navy SEAL Special Op Team, after thorough deliberations and preparations running for months. The success of the mission, through a precise and perfect operation as watched on the screen brought a great mix of joy and relief, to the select few assembled there in the White House, with their breath held and prayers in silence.
Through the window, president Obama could watch hundreds of citizens gathering in Pennsylvania Avenue with joy, excitement-and proud chants .' US..US..US...'.This act of benevolent annihilation, endeared his government to the people,more than many benevolent acts undertaken till then. Even at the hour of joy and fulfilment, the Administrator Obama observes this disparity in public response. Understandable, given human nature and the blistering wound sustained by every single American on 9/11, and the hurt and humiliation he carried within him since then- the political thinker in Obama, resolves the contradiction with this bit of a thought. A 6.ft.2inches tall member of the Special Op team was made to lie beside and parallel to the dead body, to verify whether it really belonged to the 6 ft 4inch tall Bin Laden, for want of a measuring tape in the Team's possession. Watching this on screen,the behaviourist thinker in Obama, gets convinced that even the best of human projects, carried out meticulously need not be zero error endeavours.
The diverse perspectives and vantage points of the author and composite dimensions of his narration, as delineated above, are discernible with respect to many events and situations presented in the 701 paged book, 'A Promised Land' by Barack Obama, and makes it an outstanding Autobiography of our times.
Obama starts from the genesis of his dream of America , how it evolved into the concept of a promised land, and entered into his inner self as a pledge and got into his public life as a mission. He describes in graphic detail his ascent through the convoluted conduits of everyday politics, and the labyrinthine corridors of the legislative and executive realms of governance. As for Governance, Obama delineates the dialectics of private and public interests surrounding and impinging on major issues ,and the dynamics of decision making at the US Presidency. This detailing of political and governance experience provides excellent case study material for any reader with active interest in, and passion for higher learning in Politics and Public Administration. But for an average general reader, not sharing such an interest, this elaboration( that accounts for about a quarter of the volume of the book), may appear as flab and dispensable.
But any category of a reader, however, seeks in an autobiography, portrayal of the blending of essential human aspects of the narrator with the activities he undertook during his life. The author here presents his intrapsychic and interpersonal world, impinging on, and derived from the world of action and reaction he navigates, in a free.flowing non.linear narration. When the author concerned was a head of a modern state, who occupied the most powerful elected office in our Democratic World , the story evolves as a lived in history of not just citizens of the country he governed, but also of other peoples and nations to varying extent. Seen from this perspective, this book emerges as one of the most valuable and significant contributions in the genre of political, administrative and diplomatic biographies, of all times.
Whether and to what extend Barack Obama succeeded to approximate his country to the Promised Land he dreamt and visioned, would continue to be a subject of study for historians and political scientists for a long time. But it is undeniable, as he states in the Preface to the book, any dispassionate reader can make out, that he strived with all the resources at his command, and all the time and energy available to him during his focused political career and historical presidency during the first two decades of the 21st century. With a fine balance of passion and objectivity he narrates the first part of the story of his pursuit of the promised land in a vibrant lucid prose.
'A Promised Land' , hopefully, would gain wide reach and reading, across countries and continents, where Democracy is sustained and sought after, and it's essence and practice form the main content of social and political discourse.
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drkakumar@gmail.com
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