When I look at Obama, I see a man who is trying very hard to do right by the people

[boxman15]

117. I recommend reading "The Promise" by Jonathan Alter about Obama's first year

(technically from Election Day through the passage of health care reform)

Alter really lays out what Obama's leadership style is, with plenty of evidence. Suskind's book (which I read) seems more like gossip than anything else. Alter really lays out what the Obama White House is like and its successes and failures.

In short, Obama relies heavily on his advisors, but overrides them on key decisions all the time. This makes the White House more efficient, but it can also lead to inconsistencies and shortcomings. Alter also goes into details about how the Obama administration accomplished so much, largely due to Obama's vision and leadership (the stimulus is an especially good example of this, as Obama got a stimulus more than twice the size of what even the most liberal congressmen were proposing at the time).

Obama's biggest failure, as Alter lays out and as Obama himself has admitted, is that he and his administration have been TERRIBLE at communication. Had the president broken up the stimulus into several smaller bills instead of one big piece of legislation, as FDR did with the New Deal for example, he probably would have gotten more credit for it. His inability to communicate and connect with the American people has cost him politically and has left the political left feel alienated, and has probably cost him his chance to do what FDR or Reagan did when it came to shifting the narrative from one side of the spectrum to the other (maybe Occupy will do that for him).

The Promise is a really revealing book. I was almost in the "Obama sold us out!" camp until I read it, and now Obama's actions make much more sense. He's a long-term thinker, and he usually ends up getting what's good for this country.