Audacity: How Barack Obama Defied His Critics and Created a Legacy That Will Prevail
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About this ebook
"An essential starting point for those assessing the Obama presidency.” —Washington Monthly
Two presidencies later, the time has never been better to revisit the legacy of Barack Obama. In Audacity, New York Magazine writer Jonathan Chait makes the unassailable case that, in the eyes of history, Obama will be viewed as one of America’s best and most accomplished presidents.
Over the course of eight years, Barack Obama has amassed an array of outstanding achievements. His administration saved the American economy from collapse, expanded health insurance to millions who previously could not afford it, negotiated an historic nuclear deal with Iran, helped craft a groundbreaking international climate accord, reined in Wall Street and crafted a new vision of racial progress. He has done all of this despite a left that frequently disdained him as a sellout, and a hysterical right that did everything possible to destroy his agenda even when they agreed with what he was doing.
Now, as the page turns to our next Commander in Chief, Jonathan Chait, acclaimed as one of the most incisive and meticulous political commentators in America, digs deep into Obama’s record on major policy fronts—economics, the environment, domestic reform, health care, race, foreign policy, and civil rights—to demonstrate why history will judge our forty-fourth president as among the greatest in history.
Audacity does not shy away from Obama’s failures, most notably in foreign policy. Yet Chait convincingly shows that President Obama has accomplished what candidate Obama said he would, despite overwhelming opposition—and that the hopes of those who voted for him have not been dashed despite the smokescreen of extremist propaganda and the limits of short-term perspective.
Jonathan Chait
Jonathan Chait is a political columnist for New York magazine. He was previously a senior editor at the New Republic and has also written for the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Atlantic. He has been featured throughout the media, including appearances on NPR, MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, HBO, The Colbert Report, Talk of the Nation, C-SPAN, Hardball, and on talk radio in every major city in America. He lives in Washington, D.C.
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Reviews for Audacity
18 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Audacity: How Barack Obama Defied His Critics and Created a Legacy That Will Prevail, Jonathan Chait effectively argues the case for Obama's signature achievements, primarily his sparing the nation from a depression following the inherited 2008 recession, his health care reforms, and his environmental efforts to stem global warming. But Chait is not strictly a cheerleader for Obama, as he also properly addresses the failures and disappointments during the administration, particularly in foreign policy in the Middle East, where he may have slowed the bleeding of the Bush years but was never able to fully stop it.It is, of course, far too early to definitively assess Obama's legacy, especialy since his successor has vowed to dismantle substantial elements of his accomplishments. But Chait has provided a thoughtful, measured overview of the Obama years, which may in hindsight soon start to shine even brighter as the new administration careens ahead on an alarming course.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Not sure what I expected, but this book wasn't it. I like reading about history, but this book was more like reading a really dry elementary school text book than what I was expecting. There are many better books out there about Obama - including his own.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/54.5 stars
This book is really good at breaking policies and actual history down in understandable facts instead of just a bunch of information that doesn't have a clear meaning. If you have any interest at all in the subject matter, it's worth a read for sure. A lot of not well known occurrences both good and bad that happened concerning this administration are brought to attention.