Obama's memoir of his early political rise and first term as president, covering the 2008 campaign, the financial crisis, the fight for healthcare reform, and decisions like the raid on bin Laden, told through detailed behind-the-scenes accounts of White House deliberations.
Books mentioned in A Promised Land (6)
The Second Coming by W. B. Yeats: “Between Republican attacks and Democratic complaints, I was reminded of the Yeats poem "The Second Coming": My supporters lacked all conviction, while my opponents were full of passionate intensity.”
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway: “At times, I felt like the fisherman in Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, sharks gnawing at my catch as I tried to tow it to shore.”
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky: “Ever practical, she did suggest I might want to focus on my class assignments before digging into Crime and Punishment.”
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin: “I had been influenced by Doris Kearns Goodwin's book Team of Rivals and was self-consciously mimicking Lincoln by placing a former political opponent in my cabinet.”
What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff: “attending Lamaze classes, trying to figure out how to assemble a crib, reading the book What to Expect When You're Expecting with pen in hand to underline key passages.”
A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power: “I'd met Samantha while I was in the Senate, after I read her Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide.”