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.
I Am the Change: Barack Obama and the Crisis of Liberalism
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Editorial Reviews
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“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 )
“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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More About the Author
Charles Kesler is Distinguished Professor of Government at Claremont-McKenna College and editor of the Claremont Review of Books.
Customer Reviews
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
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.... Read more ›
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
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
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.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Arthur Kahn
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book provided insight into the goals of liberals for our nation and how President Obama appears to be implementing many of those ideas. A good review of the history of liberalism or progressives.
13 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Professor Kesler's intransigent and unsparing analysis of the political thought (and in this instance the word has to be used quite loosely) of Woodrow Wilson, FDR, LBJ and BHO shows that at its best, that is, in Wilson's writings, the ideology of Progressivism/Liberalism occupies an artificial pit beneath the floor of Plato's natural cave; that Wilson's three presidential minions have continued his original excavations; and that BHO's vacuous ruminations must be located in an artificial pit between LBJ's artificial pit, beneath FDR's artificial pit beneath Wilson's artificial pit. In short, Kesler shows that when set against the political wisdom of Lincoln and the Founders, progressive/liberal opinion must be understood as a downward and ever-accelerating spiral of intellectual, moral and political bankruptcy; so much so that today it has nothing to offer but the vacuous promise of "hope and change." Like any other institution whose resources have evaporated our reigning academic/media/political establishment must be forced into bankruptcy, and this book takes a much-needed step in that direction. My compliments to the author.
12 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Those who are familiar with the history of Progressivism will somewhat appreciate this book. The author traces the historical development of Progressivism---showing, for example, the role of Hegelian philosophy in the rise of the late 19th/early 20th century progressive mindset. The book concludes by making the case that the current Obama emendation leads this ideology into the dustbin of history. Obama Progressivism's internal contradictions combined with its lack of a sustainable fiscal policy doom it to implosion.
However, scholars of Progressivism are likely not to need the author's arguments up front that: a) define Progressivism and b) make the case that Obama is a Progressive. The last two chapters are the book's strong point: i.e., that the Obama variation weakens progressivism even more that the 1960s radicals.
The main audience for the book will be those unfamiliar with the ideological underpinnings of Obama's politics.
However, scholars of Progressivism are likely not to need the author's arguments up front that: a) define Progressivism and b) make the case that Obama is a Progressive. The last two chapters are the book's strong point: i.e., that the Obama variation weakens progressivism even more that the 1960s radicals.
The main audience for the book will be those unfamiliar with the ideological underpinnings of Obama's politics.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Provides subtle insights into Obama's mind.
While this is written from the conservative point of view, it is far from a polemic. Liberals and conservatives alike may be underestimating the complexity of Obama's vision for... Read more
Published 2 months ago by fairandbalanced
5.0 out of 5 stars
Important reading
The things I never learned in high school or college about the history of our politics is in this book. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Kevin Holbert
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb
Anyone interested in Obama's intellectual heritage, it's origins and growth and fulfillment in his presidency could hardly do better than this title. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Ronald G. McComb
5.0 out of 5 stars
A VERY ENLIGHTENING READ!
I purchased this as a gift for a friend who raved about it. She said it was filled with facts and history some of which she did not know previously. Read more
Published 6 months ago by P. GILMAN
3.0 out of 5 stars
Victory of free things over not free thing
I wanted to like this book but I could not. It is far too intellectual and too little visceral.
Liberalism in the 21st century is not a philosophy for living but rather... Read more
Liberalism in the 21st century is not a philosophy for living but rather... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Abe Krieger
5.0 out of 5 stars
The truth is out !
Comprehensive and complete. It surveys Progressivism from Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson to its inevitable rejection of capitalism and the American Declaration of... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Richard B. Willson
4.0 out of 5 stars
A scolarly and insightful insightful look at American progressivism
This is a serious book. Written by a senior scholar at the conservative Claremont Institute, it is very good history of the development of progressive ideas in America going back... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Nevski
5.0 out of 5 stars
A history of liberalism and the motivating forces behind it
This is an excellent book which traces the origins of liberalism back to the constitution and to its most effective proponent, Woodrow Wilson. Read more
Published 6 months ago by John1275
2.0 out of 5 stars
I Am the Change - Barack Obama and the Crisis of Liberalism
Not the best book that purports to be history that I have read. Too much of a polemic, even though every statement he quotes is well referenced. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Midwest traveler
4.0 out of 5 stars
How Does 'I Am The Change' Rate?
'I Am the Change: Barack Obama and the Crisis of Liberalism' contains information that is vitally important for all US citizens to understand, about our current government and its... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Donald D Bretches
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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