Reading Obama: Dreams, Hope, and the American Political Tradition »

James T. Kloppenberg is the Charles Warren Professor of American History and chair of the History Department at Harvard University. His books include "Uncertain Victory: Social Democracy and Progressivism in European and American Thought, 1870-1920"; "The Virtues of Liberalism"; and "A Companion to American Thought".

"An intellectual biography of a practicing politician might nowadays seem a contradiction in terms, but James Kloppenberg, one of America's leading intellectual historians, draws penetrating insights from a close examination of the ideas that animate Barack Obama. Reading Obama shows the powerful impact on Obama's politics of his engagement with the late twentieth century revival of philosophical pragmatism and civic republicanism. Obama takes ideas seriously, and Kloppenberg details why that matters for all of us. This is a fine example of contemporary intellectual history."--Robert D. Putnam, Harvard University

"Obama is not just a powerful speaker, but a thinker engaged with the ideas of his country and his age--this argument by historian James Kloppenberg should therefore fascinate anyone interested in American politics or how ideas shape public life. Tracing the influences of Obama's family, educational, and work experiences on his ideas, Reading Obama locates a unique individual in the crosscurrents of American democracy and continuing fights over American ideals."--Martha Minow, Harvard Law School

"Reading Obama strikingly illuminates the man, enriching our sense of his intellectual formation and commitments and significantly deepening our understanding of his place in history. In the face of the hyper-partisan atmosphere of the moment, this book reminds readers of the enduring force of an alternative tradition in the American past, and sketches that tradition with care and persuasion."--Daniel T. Rodgers, Princeton University

"In this arresting, highly informative book, Kloppenberg shows how Obama was shaped by the intellectual debates of the 1980s and is thus the first president since Woodrow Wilson to deeply absorb and act upon the most sophisticated social theories of his generation."--David Hollinger, University of California, Berkeley

Library Journal

Harvard history professor Kloppenberg seeks to come to a deeper understanding of our President by studying his intellectual growth during the course of his higher education and his law school days, an approach that shows that Obama's principles and worldview have traditional intellectual roots.

Contents

Introduction....................ix
Chapter 1 The Education of Barack Obama....................1
Chapter 2 From Universalism to Particularism....................85
Chapter 3 Obama's American History....................151
Conclusion Dreams, Hope, and the American Political Tradition....................249
Essay on Sources....................267
Acknowledgments....................287
Index....................293