Revival is the dramatic inside story of the defining period of the Obama White House. It is an epic tale that follows the president and his inner circle from the crisis of defeat to historic success. Over the span of an extraordinary two months in the life of a young presidency, Obama and his senior aides engaged in a desperate struggle for survival that stands as the measure of who they are and how they govern.
Bestselling Obama biographer Richard Wolffe draws on unrivaled access to the West Wing to write a natural sequel to his critically acclaimed book about the president and his campaign. He traces an arc from near death to resurrection that is a repeated pattern for Obama, first as a candidate and now as president. Starting at the first anniversary of the inauguration, Wolffe paints a portrait of a White House at work under exceptional strain across a sweeping set of challenges: from health care reform to a struggling economy, from two wars to terrorism.
Revival is a road map to understanding the dynamics, characters, and disputes that shape the Obama White House. It reveals for the first time the fault lines at the heart of the West Wing between two groups competing for control of the president’s agenda. On one side are the Revivalists, who want to return to the high-minded spirit of the presidential campaign. On the other side are the Survivalists, who believe that government demands a low-minded set of compromises and combat.
At the center of this compelling story is a man who remains opaque to supporters, staff, and critics alike. What motivates him to risk his presidency on health care? What frustrations does he feel at this incredible time of testing? Written by the author who knows Obama best, Revival is a frank and intimate account of a president struggling to adapt, enduring failure, and outfoxing his foes. It is a must-read volume, full of exclusive insights into the untold and unfinished story of a new force in world politics.
Richard Wolffe is an award-winning journalist and political analyst for MSNBC television. He covered the entire length of Barack Obama's presidential campaign for Newsweek magazine, traveling with the candidate and his inner circle from his announcement through election day, 21 months later.
His book about the Obama campaign, Renegade: The Making of a President, was published by Crown in June 2009 in the United States, and became an instant New York Times bestseller. It was published by Virgin Books in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa; Carrera in the Netherlands; and Law Press in China.
His new book is Revival: The Struggle for Survival Inside the Obama White House, to be published by Crown in November 2010.
Wolffe appears frequently on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann and Hardball with Chris Matthews. On NBC, he has featured as a political commentator on Meet The Press and TODAY.
Prior to his exclusive contract with NBC, he previously appeared on CNN and Fox News, as well as international media including British, Canadian and Australian television.
He is featured prominently in the HBO documentary on the Obama campaign, By the People, and played a leading role in the HBO documentary of the 2000 Bush campaign, Journeys with George.
Wolffe began writing about American politics as a senior journalist at the Financial Times, serving as its deputy bureau chief and U.S. diplomatic correspondent in Washington D.C. In that capacity, he managed coverage of business and political affairs in the nation's capital, and reported on U.S. foreign policy at the State Department and National Security Council.
He first started reporting on George W. Bush and his Texas team in 1999, at the start of the presidential campaign. He travelled with then-Governor Bush for more than a year, through the extraordinary election of 2000.
He joined Newsweek magazine in November 2002 as diplomatic correspondent, covering foreign policy and international affairs. In the 2004 presidential election, he covered the chaotic Howard Dean campaign before switching to John Kerry's campaign.
As Newsweek's senior White House correspondent, his cover stories included What He Believes (on Obama's faith), Black & White (about Obama and racial politics), Bush In The Bubble (about the president after Hurricane Katrina), and Weight of the World (the behind-the-scenes story of how Bush handled the Lebanon war).
Wolffe is the co-author of The Victim's Fortune (HarperCollins, 2002), which reveals the behind-the-scenes deals that led to billions of dollars in compensation to the Nazis' victims in the late 1990s. His reporting for the book covered major European companies such as Deutsche Bank, Daimler and Société Générale. It also encompassed government officials across Europe and the United States, and several high-profile class action lawyers.
His next book was in an entirely different field: he is the co-author of a Spanish cookbook, Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America, published in 2005 by Clarkson Potter in the United States and Planeta in Spain. He co-wrote a follow-up book Made in Spain, published by Clarkson Potter in 2008, and wrote a 26-part TV show of the same name for PBS television. He has also written for food magazines such as Food Arts and Food and Wine.
Born in Birmingham, England, Wolffe graduated from Oxford University with first-class honors in English and French. He lives with his wife and their three children in Washington, D.C.
