Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Former President Barack Obama gives the reader a detailed and interesting behind the scenes perspective on his first term in office. The initial chapters cover his early political career and decision to run for President. After his election, Obama confronts the severe economic recession and financial crisis. In addition, Obama has to also make tough decisions concerning the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Later, he embarks on efforts to get Congress to pass comprehensive health care reform and climate change legislation. Obama is surprised by the dogmatic Republican opposition, a theme which occurs repeatedly. In the background, Donald Trump stirs controversy over Obama's birth certificate, generating publicity on right-wing media. At the end of this book, Obama discusses his high risk decision to launch a special ops raid to capture or kill Bin Laden. Overall, I learned a lot from this well written and insightful book, especially about the complex decision-making process concerning key domestic and foreign issues. I cannot help but add that reading this book reminded me how important it is to have political leaders with positive qualities such as honesty, integrity, compassion, competence, and willingness to put country over personal interest.