I Am the Change: Barack Obama and the Crisis of Liberalism [Hardcover]

Charles R. Kesler (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 11, 2012

Is Barack Obama the last liberal president? In I Am the Change, Charles Kesler, a leading conservative scholar, educator, and journalist, offers a sophisticated analysis of the president’s political thought, based on Obama’s own words and writings, to demonstrate that he represents either a new birth of liberalism…or its demise. Kesler’s writing is a potent mixture of philosophy, journalism, psychology, and history—seasoned with a delightful, razor-sharp wit—as he takes a greatly underestimated chief executive seriously and explores American liberalism in crisis.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Politically timely and of permanent importance to the study of the American mind. A serious but accessible study of the thinking underpinning the modern liberal project…This is a title - and an author - with a long shelf life and much to teach.” (Washington Times )

“Drawing on his wide reading in philosophy and American political thought, Mr. Kesler argues that Mr. Obama has been shaped by the political tradition of Progressivism and that his 2008 triumph has helped, in turn, to reshape it.” (Wall Street Journal )

“Obama has earned what he now receives, the tribute of a serious intellectual exegesis by a distinguished political philosopher.” (George Will, Washington Post )

“Kesler is the reader for whom Obama has long been asking, in the sense of ‘asking for it’, and this book is the examination of the One we’ve been waiting for.” (Ramesh Ponnuru, National Review )

From the Back Cover

Is Barack Obama the savior of liberalism—or the last liberal president? Charles R. Kesler's spirited analysis of Obama's political thought shows that he represents either a new birth of liberalism—or its demise.

Who is Barack Obama? Though many of his own supporters wonder if he really believes in anything, Charles R. Kesler argues that these disappointed liberals don't appreciate the scope of the president's ambition or the long-term stakes for which he is playing.

Conservatives also misunderstand Obama, according to this leading conservative scholar, educator, and journalist. They dismiss him as a socialist, hopelessly out of touch with the American mainstream. The fringe Right dwells on Obama's foreign upbringing, his missing birth certificate, Bill Ayers's supposed authorship of his books. What mainstream and fringe have in common is a stubborn underestimation of the man and the political movement he embodies.

Reflecting a sophisticated mix of philosophy, psychology, and history, and complemented by a scathing wit, I Am the Change tries to understand Obama as he understands himself, based largely on his own writings, speeches, and interviews. Kesler, the rare conservative who takes Obama seriously as a political thinker, views him as a gifted and highly intelligent progressive who is attempting to become the greatest president in the history of modern liberalism. Intent on reinvigorating the liberal faith, Obama nonetheless fails to understand its fatal contradictions—a shortsightedness that may prove to be liberalism's undoing.

Will Obama save liberalism and become its fourth great incarnation, following Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson? Or will he be derailed by his very successes? These are the questions at the heart of Kesler's thoughtful and illuminating book.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Broadside Books (September 11, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006207296X
• ISBN-13: 978-0062072962
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #227,444 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Charles Kesler is Distinguished Professor of Government at Claremont-McKenna College and editor of the Claremont Review of Books.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 70 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A RIVETING ANALYSIS OF LIBERALISM, FROM WILSON TO THE OBAMA ERA September 12, 2012

By RBSProds TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Author Charles R. Kesler takes a very intellectual, sometimes caustic philosophical look at Barack Obama and the liberals in his book "I Am The Change". That title belies the fact that, despite the author's early statement, it is also a trenchant treatise on the history of Liberalism, tracing it back to the end of the 19th Century and then tracking Liberalism as it advances forward in 'waves' towards its current status under the likes of Barack Obama, the Clintons, Reid, Pelosi, et al. He begins with the "Audaciity of Barack Obama" examining the background, early influences, political motivations, successes and failures, current goals, and future political probabilities of Barack Obama and his philosophy. Dr. Kesler draws interesting parallels between Obama and Martin Luther King, and gives a highly effective dichotomy between the Grant Park of the raucous, riotous anti-war crowd outside of the August 1968 Chicago Democratic National Convention and the "well-mannered pandemonium" of the crowd in Grant Park at the Obama victory speech on Election Day, four decades later. But then he gives us riveting chapters on the eras of Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Movement (he even backs into the 19th Century for an excellent look at the genesis of the Populist Movement), Franklin Roosevelt's weighty New Deal influence, and Lyndon Johnson's Great Society era. Along the way we also meet the influence of Rousseau, Hegel, Darwin, and others. Although sometimes falling prey to the litany of Republican 'talking-points', it is when the author breaks free that the analysis becomes historically enlightening, very thought-provoking, and truly challenging to the progressive way of thinking. Liberals and conservatives alike may find this book informative and stimulating from a more conservative point of view, if only from the standpoint of apologetics for liberals. Very Definitely Recommended. Four THOUGHT-PROVOKING Stars! (304 pages, reviewed in Kindle text-to-speech and text)

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Liberal Crisis October 24, 2012

By Richard P. Bonine

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Kesler's I Am The Change is a scholarly, sophisticated, readable book about the most important phenomenon in recent American history. I won't say it's an easy read. The dominant figures--Wilson, FDR, LBJ, Obama--do not identify themselves with a particular author or ideology such as Marx and socialism but Kesler leaves no doubt as to what they believe. The "living" constitution is a negation of the Constitution created in 1787. Kesler quotes liberally from all four. What Obama believes contrasted with what he has said during the present campaign is plain to see. Kesler shows in detail Obama's habit of leaving key words out of what sound like patriotic speeches. I have read at least ten books relevant to the current political situation and this is the best.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Barack Obama and the Crisis of Liberalism October 6, 2012

By sonny in ky

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

The Book provides insight to the beginnings and evolution of liberalism and progressivism dating from the early twentieth century. It further provides insight into some of the inconsistancies and ultimate failures of those beliefs as well as how Barack Obama relates to them. The style in which the Book is written makes it hard to read without frequent rests.