The Audacity of Hope - Barack Obama

I know wading into anything political these days is foolish. It's one of the reasons I left Facebook behind. A place where even close friends or family can rip each other to shreds through the glowing warmth of their computer screens. And I'm particularly nostalgic these days for the measured and considered way in which President Obama seemed to discuss things. I wanted to see if that was merely rose-colored glasses hindsight or if I was remembering correctly.

The Audacity of Hope was written when Barack Obama was a newly minted Senator. And the book centers around various issues and problems facing our country. It was startling just how much the problems he discusses facing 2006 America sound shockingly similar to the problems facing 2018 America. But the part that shines through the brightest is President Obama's pragmatic and realistic approaches to problems. He may not come up with the same solutions as his conservative critics, but his thought process in getting to the solutions are evidence based and practical. There's no hysteria or lectern thumping in this book. Just conversational discussion of income and racial inequality that still exists in our country. 

His fundamental question throughout the book is what do we value? A few gems on values that really struck a chord with me:

"Where do you put your time, energy, and money? Those are your values."

"Values are faithfully applied to the facts before it. Ideology overrides whatever facts call theory into question." 

The book was a refreshing step back from the increasingly hostile political culture we find ourselves in today. Disagree with him, sure, but let's forego a Facebook flame-out.

4/5 Stars