Chapter 1
As the book opens, Obama reminisces about strolling the grounds of the White House as he narrates small memories from his time as president. He then turns to his own history and upbringing. Obama's mother and grandparents raised him with strong ethical standards and had high, though not political, aspirations for him. As a high schooler, he was not a particularly promising student—being more focused on basketball and socializing than his studies—until he came across some classic books at a rummage sale and fell in love with reading. In college, he became fascinated with movements for social change and began an intense process of studying how to change the world.
Upon graduating, he became a community organizer in Chicago, working to improve people's lives on a neighborhood level. The successful movement to elect Harold Washington, the city's first Black mayor, inspired Obama to consider running for public office. He chose to attend Harvard Law School, where he excelled as a student and achieved public recognition as the first Black head of the Harvard Law Review. Those watching his career assumed a successful future for him in law and, if he so desired, politics.
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A Promised Land
Ikke FiktionA riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making-from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his im...
