BARACK OBAMA

An exploration of the moderate ideology of America’s 44th president.

Biographer and former history professor Kaufman argues that Obama’s inveterate pragmatism and conservative values have been “generally ignored in the existing literature.” As a corrective, he offers a perspective that underscores how a respect for “individual responsibility, hard work, and a free market” guided the former president throughout his political career. This approach guides the author’s convincing, often refreshing assessment of Obama’s decision-making and helps illuminate the resistance to his presidency from both the left and right as he sought to “maintain the nation’s existing free enterprise system rather than replace it with a more powerful centralized government.” Kaufman tracks Obama’s intellectual growth from his childhood through his years as a law student and community organizer, and he highlights his motivations behind key decisions during his two terms as president. “What differentiated his administration from others before him were his efforts to expand opportunities to enter the middle class for those he regarded as not yet part of it,” writes the author. Of particular interest is the emphasis placed on Obama’s sometimes-ruthless pragmatism in achieving the political ends he valued most, a characteristic that has indeed been neglected by other commentators. Also revealing are Kaufman’s sharp critiques of Obama’s Middle East policies, including “his misunderstanding of the Arab Spring beginning in 2010, his intervention in Libya, and questionable response to the Syrian Civil War.” The author’s largest claim is that “future historians and biographers will evaluate Obama as one of the nation’s best post–World War II presidents along with Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower.” Though Kaufman doesn’t systematically defend this judgment, it informs his appraisal of what he takes to be the former president’s greatest success, the passing of the Affordable Care Act, which epitomized his commitment to moderate reform.

A thorough, persuasive, insightful study of Obama’s life and political achievements.