Obama: An Intimate Portrait

She let us in. Decade by decade, she lays it out. She’s just like all of us. You will get to know her better than you know even your closest friends. It’s captivating and enlightening. Her childhood in Chicago and young adult life at Princeton and Harvard were filled with family, friendship, loss, love, community, dignity, ambition, laughter, and great memories for us all to enjoy. She painted the pictures so well. I loved her stories about Barack Obama and her mother. I learned quite a bit about POTUS. What a well-written, first-class memoir!Going doing in history as the best FLOTUS ever, mainly because she had a full 8 years to engineer so many initiatives and touch so many lives and also because she is still young and motivated. She has many more years of impact, including her initiatives—Let’s Move!, Reach Higher, Let Girls Learn, and Joining Forces. The day she and President Obama left the White House, forty-five million kids were eating healthier breakfasts and lunches; eleven million students were getting sixty minutes of physical activity every day through our Let’s Move! Active Schools program. Through Joining Forces, they’d helped persuade businesses to hire or train more than 1.5 million veterans and military spouses. On education, she and Barack had leveraged billions of dollars to help girls around the world get the schooling they deserve. More than twenty-eight hundred Peace Corps volunteers were now trained to implement programs for girls internationally. And in the United States, she had helped more young people sign up for federal student aid, supported school counselors, and elevated College Signing Day to a national level.All this and they managed two terms in office without a major scandal. They held themselves and the people who worked with them to the highest standards of ethics and decency.I must add that I was a tad set back regarding her comments regarding her speech stating ‘she was proud of her country for the first time as an adult’ and of comments about Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Obama seems to not take accountability for this statement, seemingly backpedaling and blaming the media. I was hoping she would own up to it. When your great-grandparents come to America greeted with ease, new opportunities and wealth creation, you are very proud of America. However, when your great-grandparents come to America greeted with chattel slavery, family separation, and murder, well, the proudness is a "stretch goal". This should be understandable for all those who know true American history. It adds context of the shameful history of black people in this country. Juxtapose this with the Rev. Wright headlines and it's like crying foul on one move and chastising someone else (Rev. Wright) for a similar move. She wrote that, “Barack and I were dismayed to see this, a reflection of the worst and most paranoid parts of the man who’d married us…”. Obama's extreme judgment on Rev Wright's "spitfire" preaching, and "narrow-mindedness" seamed very dismissive. She recognizes that this is the mindset of those who'd come of age in a time of segregation, yet used language such as "absurd" and vitriol" to him. When her senior thesis was discovered as to be a black power manifesto, however, she called it "small-minded" and "ludicrous" of the media. She said she was young and naïve. They listened to scores of his sermons throughout the 1990s, yet it's not until 2008 that they are appalled. They distanced themselves for political reasons in 2008 from the man and continue the same narrative and direction. This was, as I believe, to pave the path for their standards of decency. I concluded that her perspective has evolved at a level that none of us will fully understand. She’s sat in kitchens of Iowans, had adorable conversations with the Queen of England and has heard stories of tens of thousands of everyday people. I put this all in perspective...no doubt, and love her like a big sister nonetheless.Her experiences at 54 are incredibly rich, like none other, and we should all be wholly inspired by this memoir.

I bought this for my wife for our anniversary and she absolutely loved it. It is a beautiful compilation of moments in time from the presidential years of Mr. Obama captured in the excellent photographic work of Mr. Souza. There are pictures capturing the pressures of the presidential office as well as intimate moments between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Obama, their children, the officials with whom he served and the citizens he served. Some of them are engaging, some are amusing and some are quite moving. It is already one of her most cherished keepsakes and yes - although we have dozens of bookcases all through our house stuffed to the gills with many valuables books, first editions and even signed editions - this one sits on our living room coffee table and I'm certain will remain there for many years to come. I would also like to mention that we're both senior citizens and we're both caucasian and we both live in the midwest...but we also both still do our own thinking and have managed to retain our hearts and our humanity. Thank you, Mr. Souza, for a wonderful work.BTW - As I write this there are 25 one star reviews of this book. Only five of those are reviews based on verified purchases. Of those, three were because the book they received was damaged and two were because the buyer thought they were buying the Kindle version rather than the hardcover version. The other twenty one star reviews are by people who have not actually bought the book, have probably never seen the book, and consist of nothing more than political rants. The Amazon review feature is not a political forum and people who elect to use it as such are abusing a very valuable asset Amazon offers to its customers.

Great photos

A simply beautiful book. Great photos, gives you a good feel for and remembrance of what the Obama years were like. Gave it as a gift to someone who wanted it and he is thrilled having it on his coffee table.

Souza’s photos are beautiful and really capture the feeling and emotion of the moment happening in front of his lens. The photos really drew me in and made me feel like I was actually in the room with President Obama. I got choked up many times throughout the book reflecting on the leadership, love and empathy President Obama always gave to us. Loved getting a peak of what goes on behind the scenes too. Great job Mr. Souza! Thank you for sharing your photos with us.

This book will be a lifelong treasure of mine. I'm shocked that I was able to get it from the seller at the price I did. I bought a used one that was in excellent condition. There was nothing wrong with it at all. I LOVE being able to look at the pics from the administration of the POTUS I believe will go down in history as the best POTUS ever. After the horrendous 4 years of the person who followed him, I appreciate him even more than ever. The pics in this book make me wish he could serve another term and I would never have said that about any other POTUS.As for the book itself....it is a hard back and very heavy, which is the only way it should be, IMO. The paper quality is excellent. The information accompanying each pic is great and very detailed. You will definitely learn a few things about Prez. Obama's 8 years in office from this book. I think every school and public library should keep a few copies of this book on their shelves.This may be one of my all-time favorite purchases from Amazon. I will cherish it forever. I only wish I could afford an autographed copy. That would be amazing!

Excelente libro , 100 % recomendable.

If you’re interested in documentary photography then this book is fabulous. A stunning collection of images by a talented photographer.

Quoi de mieux que cet ouvrage pour rentrer dans l'intimité d'un des personnages les plus charismatique de notre époque et l'aimer encore plus. Bravo Monsieur Pete Souza et belle retraite à vous.

After watching 'The Way I See It,' about the photographer Peter Souza, I knew I had to buy his accompanying book of photography of Obama. Being inobtrusive, being always ready with your camera to catch that perfect moment, and being able to beautifully frame each shot, are the hallmarks of a truly talented photographer. I found myself, in turn, laughing, wiping away sad tears and shaking my head at the spectrum of emotions that each photo took out of me. In particular, the photos of Obama and children are truly wondrous. I will treasure this collection and delve into it with family and friends over the years. Thank you Mr. Souza. Thank you President Obama.

Questo libro è semplicemente Fotografia allo stato puro.Sfogliando le pagine e soffermandosi sulle immagini ci si trova di fronte a un racconto completo, in cui si coglia la presenza costante ma invisibile di Souza accanto a Obama per otto anni. Penso non sia possibile immaginare un progetto così lungo, complesso e ricco di spunti per un fotografo.Tutta la versatilità del fotografo e le molteplici sfaccettature dell'uomo e presidente Obama emergono a ogni pagina.Il libro è in formato grande. Con carta spessa e stampa accuratissima.E questi, per chi ama la fotografia, non sono dettagli.Se volete fare un regalo a qualcuno a cui piace la fotografia, questo sarà apprezzatissimo.