Customer Reviews

Renegade: The Making of a President

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1 star:		(28)

 

 

Written with a reporter's keen eye for observation, a commentator's penchant for analysis, and the affinity and fondness for humor of an anchorman of late night shows, "Renegade: The Making of a President", a biographical book on President Obama, is a joy to read. Even though this book is based mostly on information gathered by the author during Mr. Obama's campaign for President, it reads like a biography of President Obama because the author has chosen to include a lot of biographical information also.

Interspersed with humor and witty comments throughout the book, the book is a joy to read. For example, when Obama decides to offer the job of Secretary of State to Mrs. Clinton, one of Obama's senior aids says: "There was a lot of encouragement from inside the Senate to get her into this job. They wanted her out of there."

Unlike several of his former colleagues in the senate, Obama holds no grudges and he tends to forgive people: "His staff opposed the idea for the most part, arguing that Clinton would never be truly loyal. But Obama was willing to leave the primaries behind, including his own strong feelings at the time. "I don't hold grudges," he told his aides. "I don't worry about the past. I'm concerned about what happens now. If she can help me and Bill Clinton isn't too much of a liability, we should seriously look at this."

The word "Renegade" refers to the code word the Secret service used for candidate Obama. I have no doubt that the code has now been changed. Those who have read President Obama's two autobiographical books, "Dreams from my Father" and "The audacity of Hope" will get a deeper insight into the President's life, beliefs, philosophy and character. How his work as a community organizer has influenced his thoughts, ideals and beliefs is explained here very lucidly.

"Renegade: The Making of a President" is a complex, marvelously written, deep, humorous and thought-provoking book.

Wolffe wrote this book at the suggestion of then candidate Obama (a story he outlines in the appendix) and was given some pretty good access to the main players during the campaign. Despite his access, it is still a (well written) outsider's view of the Obama 2008 campaign - you are not going to find Obama or his staff overtly trashing people - they knew when they were talking to Wolffe he might eventually write a book about it. (my favorite little nugget from the book - that Obama loved <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/6/2/738159/-Renegade">this picture</a>)

If you followed the Obama campaign with any depth, many of the "insider tales" discussed were either covered in the press or blogosphere, but for the casual person, Wolffe's description of the Obama campaign will be a revealing account of some of the behind the scenes motivations and decisions the Obama campaign made.

However, the book is BADLY EDITED. It starts on election night, then jumps back and forth through time. Many of the chapters are way way too long and could have easily been broken into several chapters. Moreover, Wolffe over-relies on passages from Obama's books to fill in Obama's personal history rather than telling Obama's story in a new way.

The biggest problem I had with the book is that the chronology of the Democratic Primary is very loose - one minute Wolffe is discussing the Nevada Caucus and the next he's talking about Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania with nary a mention that Obama ran off a consecutive win streak of 11 primaries and caucuses after Super Tuesday. What gets lost in the telling is the fact that Clinton had mathematically lost the nomination, arguably after Obama's win streak and definitely after Texas, and there is little discussion of David Plouffe's delegate strategy. Because of these omissions, Wolffe misses an opportunity to explain to those who did not follow the democratic primary in detail why Clinton's refusal to concede and her campaign tactics after March 2008 upset so many Obama supporters. You will not find the "inside baseball" discussion of delegates, super delegates and such that seemed to dominate the cable news coverage throughout the spring of 2008. The delegate story was badly reported during the election and Wolffe misses an opportunity to set the record straight. I suppose we will have to wait for Plouffe's or Axelrod's book to hear that tale.

Despite these flaws it is definitely worth a read....

Normally, I wouldn't confess my political leanings in a review but it seems fair in this context. I was/am an unlikely Obama supporter -- one of those independents/left wing Republicans described in this book. After intensively studying the issues for a couple of hours I decided to vote for Obama early on because I looked around and noted that What We Were Doing Wasn't Working -- a phrase that I found effectively ended most political arguments.

The good news is that my parents are still speaking to me, although they are careful not to let it get out to their friends.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book until the end when I felt it got, for want of a better term, "mushy". Obama was portrayed exactly as I perceived him -- decisive, ethical, brilliant and most of all steady. In the final chapters, all of the sudden it felt like the author decided to give the President wiggle room on his positions under the heading of "pragmatism." I have had numerous discussions over the last year with relatives -- mostly older-- who characterize the President as a Marxist or a socialist, to which I have always replied "Oh, I hope you are wrong."

I had the same reaction at the end of this book -- I so hope Mr. Wolffe's characterization of President Obama as a slightly different man than the candidate is just wrong. Too many of us have invested too much hope in the President's commitment to change the tone of politics -- dashing those hopes would arguably be as destructive to this country as the absurdity of Iraq.

Overall, a well written book that deserves to be read very carefully.

In the days following the November elections, Newsweek ran an issue which told the behind the scenes story of Obama's two year long campaign that led to the historic victory full of details undisclosed to date. It was chock full of revealing bits and by far the most (or the only) consuming Newsweek issue that I had ever held in my hands. When I heard that Newsweek's Richard Wolffe, who partially penned that issue, and who was given extensive access to Obama (on his campaign plane, campaign bus, at a bar on the night he secured the nomination, backstage as he delivered his convention speech, and on and on...) had written an entire book on the topic, I was more than curious. Indeed, this rich, complex book has not failed to deliver. If you are interested in the fascinating details of a modern day political odyssey embarked on by an unlikely hero with a restless spirit and want to learn much about Obama (as well as about those around him like David Axelrod, Robert Gibbs, David Plouffe, Valerie Jarrett and Michelle Obama...) that is not covered in his own bestselling books, this fabulously written and hard to put down book won't disappoint. It is a joy to read this book and it is highly recommended.

I enjoyed reading very much! This book has great insight into the behind the scenes of the campaign. It is well written- Wolffe has the rare ability to make politics interesting for those not naturally drawn to it. His ability to articulate w/ passion & blend humor throughout is ideal! I trust his account, given the access he was allowed.

Informative. I followed the campaign closely. Renegade gave me the extra little tidbits behind the scenes. I got a sense of Obama's continuing battle to run the campaign he wanted to run. Wolfe introduced a good blend of politics, game playing, and humanity to the whole scene. Describing the reality of the difficulties running this campaign, hardships on all the people involved, and their amazing resilience, made the read a good one. Even though I knew how it ended.

This book promotes itself as the story of the "making of a President" and that's precisely what it is. It's not a blow-by-blow, primary-by-primary account of the two year campaign, but rather an examination of Barack Obama, the man and the candidate, during those two years. And Wolffe does a brilliant job of answering the question "who is Barack Obama?". Filled with erudite observations, keen reportage and amusing gossip, Renegade begs to be read in one big dollop, but it's long and detailed enough that you have the pleasure of reading it over the course of a few days.

Highly recommended.

Wolffe takes us behind the scenes of the campaign for the 44th President of the United States. He delves into the psyches of the Candidate as well as the major players on his team and illuminates Obama's winning strategy of
unconventional thinking. Re-examine this historical event and get into
the essence of who Barack Obama is and what he's made of. Wolffe was
granted special access to our now Commander in Chief and doesn't miss a beat. "Vero Possumus" (Latin for YES WE CAN)

--Joseph Barry, Ph.D.

Everyone is so upset about the Kindle price for this book and are giving it a one star review even though they say they will not buy the book, and therefore, I can only assume, have not read the book. J/C, get over it. Either pay the extra $2.88 and read the book, then review it. Or buy the hardcover, read the book, then review it. If you don't want to pay close to the hardcover price for the digital version, then just do what people have been doing for hundreds of years and buy the freaking book.

I for one, finished the book yesterday and found it to be detailed insightful and full of good information.

Renegade takes neither a positive or negative view the 44th President of the United States. During what turned out to be the longest most expensive presidential campaign in American history, there were so many inside details that seemed to be missed. When did Barack Obama decide he wanted to run for president? What were the internal discussions like among his family and advisors? What was the thinking that inspired such skillful political maneuvering around race and Jeremiah Wright, the whisper campaign that he was secretly Muslim, open accusations that he "palled around with terrorist", or even questions about his place of birth and his legality as a candidate. There are so many twists and turns in the his rise to power that the drama almost writes itself, but Wolffe is not a lazy writer, clearly he took time to go deeper into the candidates life and conduct intimate interviews with Barack, Michelle, and many of his closest advisors to get a clear idea of who this man is by examining his most difficult undertaking.

If you followed the campaign closely and think you know all there is to know about his campaign, pick up this book. There are plenty of funny and insightful details that were overlooked by the 24/7 coverage. That this book examines in a way regular news media didn't have the inclination to explore. This book is for an audience that cares about politics. This books is for people who want a better understanding of who the President is want a window into his thinking on issues that go beyond sound bites and digs deep into his political philosophy. It's a book that will remind you of things you thought you'd forgotten about and shows you new details you never knew you missed. Quite frankly it's one of the best books about modern politics I've read.