Top 10 Best "Barack Obama" Books

On the night of November 4, 2008, Barack Obama addressed the nation as the first African American to be elected president of the United States. It was the end of a race that had gripped the country more than any other. Every likely candidate would be a first in the White House, whether by race (Obama) or gender (Senator Hillary Clinton, Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin). This detailed scrapbook recreates one of the most inspiring presidential races in U.S. history. Tucked among the pages is a treasure trove of memorabilia: souvenir replicas such as buttons, press passes, bumper stickers, posters, tickets, and more are set against a vivid narrative, historical photographs, and images from the campaign trail. You ll read the full text of Senator Obama s electrifying keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and his American Promise speech from 2008, when he accepted the Democratic nomination.

For decades Americans have turned to LIFE to see, understand, and remember the most important events and people of our time. Just as LIFE once opened up the glittering Kennedy White House, LIFE now focuses its lens on Barack Obama. The American Journey of Barack Obama covers the candidate from his childhood and adolescence to his time as editor of The Harvard Law Review and his Chicago activist years, culminating with the excitement and fervor of the historic 2008 Democratic National Convention. The unfolding drama of Obama's life and political career is cinematic in scope, and never has it been presented so compellingly. In addition to a powerful array of photographs that were taken by many of the country's greatest photographers (and some that were snapped, in the quiet moments, by Obama family members themselves), this book also includes a Foreword by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, an incisive narrative biography and original essays by some of our finest writers, including Gay Talese, Charles Johnson, Melissa Fay Greene, Andrei Codrescu, Fay Weldon, Richard Norton Smith, Bob Greene and several others. Many readers will find a new understanding of Obama. All readers will feel that they are bearing witness to a singular, undeniably American story.

People do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant.


Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything good in the world.


Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousand of miles and all the years you have lived.


The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart.


There is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his.


~Helen Keller