NPR

The Love Letters Of A Young Barack Obama On View At Emory University Library

The musings of the future president at age 21 reveal familiar themes of alienation and lack of belonging that would arise again in his later writing.

Few of us would want the love letters we wrote to our sweethearts at age 21 released to the public. But when you've been president everything in the past is ripe for perusal by historians, researchers and journalists.

And so it is with the love letters of former President Barack Obama — excerpts of which have been released by Emory University's Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, where the letters a young Obama wrote to

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR4 min read
These People Waited Hours To See The Trump Hush-money Trial Up Close. Here's Why
New Yorkers and tourists alike stand in line outside the Manhattan criminal court with hopes of securing a spot in one of the rooms where the trial against former President Donald Trump can be viewed.
NPR3 min read
What Are 'The Kids' Thinking These Days? Honor Levy Aims To Tell In 'My First Book'
Social media discourse and the inevitable backlash aside, the 26-year-old writer's first book is an amusing, if uneven, take on growing up white, privileged, and Gen Z.
NPR8 min readAmerican Government
Anti-war Protests, A Chicago DNC: Is It 1968 All Over Again? Some Historians Say No
There are clear similarities between 1968 and 2024, from presidential elections and anti-war protests to new Planet of the Apes movies. But historians tell NPR there are some key differences too.

Related