Ten Letters: The Stories Americans Tell Their President

by Eli Saslow

Every day, President Obama reads ten representative letters among the thousands he receives from citizens across the land. The letters come from people of all ages, walks of life, and political points of view. Some are heart­breaking, some angry, some hopeful. Indeed, Obama reads as many letters addressed “Dear Jackass” as “Dear Mr. President.” Eli Saslow, a young and rising star at the Washington Post , became fascinated by the power of these letters and set out to find the stories behind them.

Through the lens of ten letters to which Obama responded personally, this exceptionally relevant and poignant book explores those individual stories, taking an in-depth look at the misfortunes, needs, opinions, and, yes, anger over the current state of the country that inspired ten people to put pen to paper. Surprisingly, what also emerges from these affecting personal narratives is a story about the astounding endurance and optimism of the American people.

Ten Letters is an inspiring and important book about ordi­nary people and the issues they face every day—the very issues that are shaping America’s future. This is not an insider Washington book by any means, but a book for the times that tells the real American stories of today.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, History, Biography, Presidents, Audiobook, Government

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Eli Saslow is an author and a staff writer for The Washington Post, where he travels the country to write in-depth stories about the impact of major national issues on individual lives. He won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting for a series of stories about the rise of food stamps and hunger in the United States. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in feature writing in 2013, 2016 and 2017. An occasional contributor to ESPN the Magazine, four of his stories have been anthologized in Best American Sportswriting. He grew up in Denver, graduated from Syracuse University and now lives in Portland, Or., with his wife and three children.

Reviews

[Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not one to cry when reading books; however, there were a few times during this read that I was moved to tears. The stories these Americans tell their President come across genuine and speak volumes for the struggles many face in modern America. Initially, I was concerned the author was going to preach too much "Obama-love"; however, he seemed to be fair and include both criticisms and praise. You'll read a letter from a tea-party conservative in one chapter and one from an Obama campaign volunteer in the next. This makes for a fascinating read.

The ten letters chosen cover topics such as foreclosures, bankruptcy, health insurance, the struggling public education system, rising college costs, immigration, the environment, civility, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, veteran services, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), gay rights, bullying, and many more. The book masterfully connects current events, the stories of average Americans, a seemingly broken political system, and the office of the presidency.

Overall, it is an excellent book that is well researched and delivered. It made me want to read more letters, hear more stories, learn more about the issues, and do something. This book is a lesson in civics, paints a picture of American resilience, and examines the defining issues of our time.

Ten Letters: The Stories Americans Tell Their President

[Hank Stuever · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eli is a colleague of mine at The Washington Post (he works for the National desk; I'm downstairs in the Style section). This is an extremely even-handed, empathetic look at how Americans are feeling in the Obama Age, told through the voluminous amount of letters and e-mails that come addressed to the President. Eli wrote a story about how the mail gets sorted and how 10 letters are chosen every day to be delivered to Obama, and what he does after he reads them. Some of the letters are desperate; some angry; some vitriolic; some supportive. Often he writes back. This is about 10 Americans who got a response to their letter -- who are they, what their situation is, what they hope and believe (and have given up on). Eli went and hung out with them. This is old-fashioned, all-ears feature writing at its best, free of judgment or attitude. No matter how you feel about Obama and the issues being faced by Americans right now, you will relate to this book.

Naturally, my favorite chapter was the one about the Fox News addict in Plano, Texas. What did he do when he got a handwritten reply from Obama? Doubted its authenticity, of course -- checked the handwriting online, looked for smudges, sought clues that would reveal the letter to have been written by an underling, etc. Finally he had to admit: The President read my letter and wrote me back. Then what? Get the book and find out.

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every night, President Obama opens a purple folder that is tucked inside his daily briefing book. The purple folder contains ten letters (emails or faxes) that have been received by the White House. These pieces of correspondence are unvetted, per Obama's request, for this is one of the ways that he chooses to help him feel connected beyond the bubble that surrounds him as President. The letters in that purple folder range from letters that praise Obama to those that plead with him to address a particular issue to those that are scathing remarks on his work as President. Still, he reads the letters, and often, he responds to them.

Ten Letters: The Stories Americans Tell Their President is a selection of ten of those ten daily letters that Obama has received throughout his Presidency. The book focuses on not simply the letters themselves, but is the story of those who wrote the letters and why they choose to write them intermingled with glimpses into the more personal side of Obama's Presidency. To create this text, Salsow first worked with the White House Press Office, interviewed each of the writers of the letters contained within this book, garnered research from press releases, tapes of speeches, and news articles, as well as held a one-on-one interview with President Obama.

As someone who teaches writing, what I found most interesting were the discussions of what motivated people to write and the rhetorical choices they made about what they said to the President. Equally as interesting were the insights into Obama's word choices and how he felt about the power of the written letters he received, some of which he was moved to reply to privately while others he was moved to not only reply to privately but also reply to publicly in a variety of speeches. (Saslow takes time to note which of the ten letters in this selection went on to be the focus of portions of several of Obama's speeches regarding health care and education.

Overall, Ten Letters is an interesting work, but I found myself wanting more from the text. I wanted to see more of the actual original letters for not all of them were reproduced in the text. The ones that were reproduced in full seemed to be the emails rather than the letters, which the letters themselves were summarized. I think reproducing the original letters as part of the text would have added to the overall text itself. I disliked the chapters that seemed to be only a telling of what the letter writer could manage to recall that he or she wrote. I suspect that I liked these chapters least because I wondered just how accurate that recollection of the letter really was.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's quite amazing to learn during 8 years in office, President Obama read nearly 30,000 letters from Americans across all walks of life and personally responded to thousands. Yet, this fact (while impressive) actually only equals 1/2 of 1% of the letters (hard copy/online) that the White House received during his tenure (about 20k per day).

Contrary to some widely shared inaccurate information, President Obama actually took the least amount of vacation time since Carter and Reagan in the 1980's. In addition, his daily briefings were long, complex, and required extensive reading. This man worked damned hard to stay informed.

This book is about the lives of 10 specific individuals who wrote to their President, some supporters, some dissenters, and some ambivalent about their leader. Each story, offers a slice of American life that touches on issues pertaining to Health Care, Immigration, Military Service, LGBTQ Youth Suicide, Partisanship, and more. However, this book is also about a President who worked relentlessly to enact the policies he hoped would transform the nation. Through it all, whether you knew it or not, he was listening.

[Kathi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read whether you are a fan of President Obama or not.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Throughout the course of his administration, President Barack Obama received a purple file folder containing ten letters every evening. Some were letters of appreciation, some held a desperate edge, others were downright hostile. Each was from a citizen reaching out to the President. Obama frequently talked about these letters; how they allowed him to tap into the hearts and minds of the people--those who loved him, those who hated him, and everyone in between. In Ten Letters, author Eli Saslow tells the stories behind the letters, introducing readers to the citizens whose concerns ranged from health care and poverty to immigration and the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

I have read another similar book, To Obama: With Love, Joy, Anger, and Hope, and I thoroughly enjoyed both. What is most inspiring to me is the example of a person willing to listen and consider points of view that are so different from his own. It's easy to dismiss people who don't agree with us; it's harder to truly listen and try to understand. Especially today, when it feels like conversation and considerate debate are extinct among the throngs of people who are either trying to be heard by shouting louder or who have closed their minds and hearts to anyone who doesn't agree with them.

[ML Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, liked the concept but in the end, the president can’t do much except use these as examples. Sometimes it was used to draw attention to the issue and sometimes it just served to let him know what people were thinking. I felt mostly sad by then end.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saslow is definitely a talented writer, but sometimes this feels like a hagiography of Obama and his staff, which...I definitely miss right now. Nearly all of the letter writers are swimming in debt or in some sort of precarious position (immigration status, illness) which means that the book also functions as a kind of history of 2008-2011 or even of the early '00s and the total collapse of faith in capitalism for most Americans. Obama's caution, paired with the utter cynicism of McConnell and McCain, looks like a bit of a wasted opportunity at this point given the direness of the problems of the letter writers.

[Hannah Tria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Potential to engage students and spark passionate discussion-5
There several points in this book that are important to Americans today. I think this could spark a very passionate discussion, however this book was extremely one sided and sympathized with Obama. It also tried to blame a lot of problems on the Republican party dragging their feet, when this wasn't exactly the case.
Potential to appeal to a wide range of students-4
There was one person in the book that was worried about the cost of college and was working very hard to make ends meet. This could be a story that some of the students have experienced.
Possibilities for classroom use in various departments, including UNI-3
I guess this book could be used in UNI and possibly a civics class. I don't think there are a lot of different classes that could use this book.
Programming Possibilities outside of the classroom-3
I'm not really sure if we could do much more than what was done last year for No Impact Man.
Richness of themes; interdisciplinary in nature-5
Each chapter had a different theme. It talked about health care, unemployment, bankruptcy, and many problems that Americans are facing today.
Relevance to student life-4
I'm not sure how many students will read this book, simply because of the size. I don't think too many students have to worry about unemployment or health care but it might be a relevant concern for some of their family members.

[Eileen Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I selected this book up at the school library; it was in the new book area. Glad I read it. It was written that about 20,000 letters arrive at the White House each day. Many people assist in sorting these letters and ten are selected each day to be placed in a purple folder that the President receives each evening. These ten letters are supposed to represent the real stories outside the White House. The author of this book selected ten letters from people who wrote to President Obama about their struggles in their every day life. He followed their stories from writing the letter to when they heard back from the President and what happened to their lives. There is a woman whose husband lost his job-a pool installing business he started- and they had to file for bankruptcy. A young high schooler writes abut being class president, a mother writes about her son in the war, and a teacher criticizes the President on the education policies. Someone wrote about bullying, domestic violence, and the oil spill the Gulf of Mexico. I hope the President values and responds to the purple folder of letters.
http://www.ontheissues.org/Ten_Letter...
http://www.npr.org/2011/10/09/1411922...

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those who know me know that I am a sucker for a true, personal story. These stories were no exception. Plus it was a great review of the past four years -- I hadn't thought about the BP oil spill in way too long, and I'd totally forgotten how long it took Obama to contemplate and decide on his Afghanistan strategy.

I had been afraid that the book was going to imply that writing a letter to the President (or receiving a response from him) somehow totally changed the letter writer's life, and that seemed like malarkey (even to me, and I tend to be a Pollyanna). Instead, each chapter charted what led the person to write the letter, what happened in that person's life before and after, and what was going on in during the Obama administration/the world (same thing?) during that time. Just a snapshot of a time and place and issue -- from housing crisis to military family to education to bullying to BP oil spill. Obama didn't even respond to each of these letters, but the stories and people were a great cross-section of America, based on demographics, geography, and current events. Plus there was neat trivia about the history of citizens corresponding with their Presidents.

[Cheryl Gatling]

Americans write thousands of letters to their President. These are opened and sorted by staff members. Every day they pick ten representative letters and deliver them to President Obama in a purple folder. Sometimes he responds to them. Sometimes he doesn't. But he looks forward to his daily ten letters as a way of keeping in touch with what's really going on outside the presidential bubble where he feels trapped, unable to get out and talk with people as he used to, and as he would like to.

This book tells about ten of those letters that reached the President. The author, journalist Eli Saslow, visited the writers, followed them around, and learned more of their story. The writing is simple and vivid, and brings to life some of the hard times and difficult choices of real people.

Obama comes off looking mostly good. He is often frustrated, and not always able to help, but he shows himself someone who is thoughtful and trying really hard.

Perhaps if there is a real hero of the book, it is the power of letter writing itself, the power of story to bridge the gap between people, puncture the bubble, touch hearts, and, on rare occasions, influence policy.

[Brian Hoxie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not a pick-me up, feel good book and it's not something to read if you are not willing to accept the reality of a large number of people in America today. However, it is something that I hope everyone reads with an open mind and heart to understand the pressures people face every day and when they feel no one else is listening, they tell their President.

When I first started reading, I quickly realized that I need to just read - not judge. To those that are interested in reading it, I suggest you do the same. People are people; we all have made poor decisions or fallen on hard times through no fault of our own. These are real stories, from real people - including the President.

The book is very well written and captures the raw emotion of these stories well. It succeeds in putting a human touch on so many issues that our society today learns about through a simple story on a newspapers website or a quick 30 second news story. Those that received a simple yet powerful message from their President can bring you tears if you let it. I suggest you do.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Ten Letters” explores the issues that everyday Americans encounter, including a lack of access to education, rising health costs, the BP oil spill, and more. Each of these issues and stories is familiar. I could personally identify with the effects of the rising costs of healthcare and higher education. I sympathized with Jessica Duran, a high schooler who couldn’t find a part-time job to pay the bills. My heart broke for Na’Dreya Lattimore, the fifth grader that felt she was being shafted in her pursuit of a quality education. I cried reading about Jon Santos and the It Gets Better Project. And while each of the writers received a personal response from the President, only some had a happy ending. I know it is unrealistic to expect a happy ending in a book that chronicles real life issues, but for some reason I went into the book thinking that those were the only letters that would be chosen.

For the full review, click here: Ten Letters that Feel Familiar at The Book Wheel

[Jared · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ten Letters is a book about letters President Obama receives from across America. Each day President Obama's staff sorts through the emails and letters and provides him with 10 letters that are representative of what people send. In this book, ten letters are chosen to represent ten different issues facing Americans -- the economy, the oil spill, immigration reform, gay rights, etc. The author, Eli Saslow, then followed up with each of the letter writers to tell us their life stories and why they wrote their letter to the president.

I was really excited to read this book. I thought it had lots of potential. But, I was so disappointed that the author included so little of the actual letters. I think he got lost in the story sometimes and although he tells us what happened after, in several cases there is no finality.

Finally, those of you who know me well know how much I don't care for politics. Some of the chapters were a little too "political" for me. I'm not sure why I thought it would be any different...

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saslow is just brilliant. His writing is hard for me to articulate: it's simple and clear, yet he finds a way to bring horrific circumstances and stories to a beautiful life. His sentences are punchy and leave nothing unexplained; he has a distinct way of wording what could be hard to understand political policies into very clear and concise prose. And yet there isn't a single story in this book that didn't raise the hair on my arms; these stories are just remarkable. They are stories of ordinary Americans, doing extraordinary things and defying all odds by just living day to day. My favorite chapter is the "It Gets Better" piece. Wow! What a wonderfully told story about such heavy and saddening subject matter.

I'm not sure I buy that he's the most objective journalist - I think I'd need to read more of his pieces outside of this book to determine my opinion on that - but regardless of his political sway, his prose, again, is simply amazing. No fuss, no frills - but all heart. I am lucky to have discovered him and this book.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had heard about this book on NPR and the author seemed like a nice guy with interesting stories to tell. I thought there would be a bit more about different presidents and how they handled mail from the public but there was only a couple paragraphs on that. Instead it gave a personal look at 10 different citizens in the U.S who had become steamed enough to write the president, never thinking the president would actually read their letter. The book is easy to read and I enjoyed getting to know each person. I knew I lived in my own bubble but reading about each person's life and how different it was from mine made me a little sad. A nice thing about the book is that there is an epilogue that gives you an idea of what happened to each person. I wish I knew how all of them were doing now. I wavered on giving this book 5 stars but I think I was so bummed at how difficult some peoples live were that I settled on 4.

[Almira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ten Letters by Eli Saslow, reads like a novel. His approach to the individuals who have written letters to President Obama is quite discerning, he gets to the heart of each person's view of why and what they wrote to the President.

Eli also gives much background history as to how each president viewed mail they received. FDR was the first who really received major amounts of mail after he started his fireside chats. With each major historic event during a President's term, the letters and staff needed kept growing, currently, President Obama receives approximately 20,000 letters and emails DAILY!!!!!!! These letters are put through security screenings, sorted, processed and read, at the end of the day, a staffer takes a purple folder to President Obama with ten letters, which he reads every evening. And to top that President Obama answers almost every letter personally.

Even if you don't approve of President Obama, you should consider reading this book.

[Polly · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book for this now Pulitzer Prize winning author.
Glad he kept writing and I want to read more.

[Brianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was more about President Obama than I thought it would be, but I didn't really mind. I did think the book struggled between telling stories of Americans and telling stories of the President. I enjoyed the book, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had chosen between one of this, so it didn't end up feeling like we were skimming the lives of Americans who wrote letters, or skimming how The Prez receives or responds to these letters.

These ten letters are chosen to represent ten different issues facing Americans -- the economy, the oil spill, immigration reform, gay rights, etc. The author followed up with each of the letter writers to tell us more about their life and why they wrote the letter. He also tells us what happened after, although in several cases there is no finality.

A couple of the stories did make me cry. You have been warned.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wished this book had an introduction. Until I read the author's acknowledgments at the end, I didn't know if this book was coming out of the Obama administration (not that I'd mind, I'd just want to know)or if it was being done from an independent source who had been given access to the letters.

Regardless, I thought this was a nice glimpse at what drives someone to sit down and write a letter to the leader of their country. I appreciate that the President chooses to read 10 letters everyday to overcome the isolation that comes with being in a such public role. And it made for an interesting book to trace the 10 letters for a specific day to the authors to understand why they wrote it and the aftermath of getting a handwritten response from the President (which is does for some but not all).

[Correen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A group of reviewers reads letters to President Obama and selects 10 each day, representing an unbiased representation of the letters received that day. Obama considers these letters to balance the reports he is given by his advisers. Letters that threaten the president and those that use abusive language are not forwarded. Other than that, the letters represent the same ratio of criticism and praise as the entire batch for a given day.

The stories were touching and told enough of the writers' lives to help me understand why the letters were selected and how they affected the president. I found them interesting and touching although sometimes tedious. The book gave an interesting picture of the lives of Americans and of how President Obama reaches out to reduce his sense of being in a bubble.

[Norma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ten Letters is an honest open look at individual American struggles. The letters highlighted by Eli Saslow describes in depth people's stories written to their President. The White House Correspondence Office read and sorted daily, the thousands of letters that arrived during Obama's presidency. Each day ten letters would be sent to the president. The topics represented challenges that individuals were facing. A fourth grader wrote about her frustrations while attending one of the country's worst schools. The President relied on her story in his push for education reform. A cleaning lady's battle with leukemia, the cost of treatment and the lack of insurance reinforced his push for health-care reform. Letter after letter the President kept in touch with the individual struggles of Americans.

[Cindy S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every day President Obama reads 10 letters selected from the thousands the White House receives. The letters in this book are representative of some of the most important struggles typical Americans are facing on a daily basis.

These are the real stories behind the CNN newsbites that we tune out to every day. Each letter is a short story about a slice of American life, and I learned so much more about the issues this country is dealing with from reading about these Americans.

Not all of the citizens who write to President Obama agree with him, but it still seems they are looking to him for hope. I particularly liked the portion of the book which tells about the history of Americans writing to their president.

[Richard Worden · Rating 5 out of 5]

It may seem strange for a Canadian to read this book; however, it humanizes the President of the USA and offers an understanding of the US government system. The USA is huge country with very distinct regions and President Obama's simple and yet demanding task (because of the sheer volume of response) of learning what the grassroots are experiencing offers spell binding stories. When a person is at the grassroots solutions to problems seem very simple because a person has only a limited view and very often it is their own view. However, being at the top of any organization offers leaders a much wider view and consequently any decisions have a much wider implication. It is the theory of Systems: once something is set in motion it is almost impossible to guide it.

[Ross Mccall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read two incredible books by David Finkel I was inspired to pick up this book by one of the journalists he trained. I wasn't disappointed. Each chapter is like a perfect stand alone article you might find in a quality magazine. Some are more interesting than they are moving, and some, such as the chapter about people bullied at school for being gay, brought me to tears.

All ten letters were fascinating in their own ways and together the cumulative effect was like a bird's eye view of America in the first few years of Obama's Presidency. If you want to read a about the effects on real everyday Americans, of the issues Fox News pundits just fire off compassion-free missives about daily, read this book.

I'll be hunting down anything else by Eli Saslow in the future.

[Frank Hintz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the author did a good job of picking letters that covered a solid range of issues presenting our country over the past four years, and ones that acknowledged different opinions. All of the stories really personalized whats going on. Even if one doesn't agree with everything here, I think a reader can find at least one story to get behind. Personally, I found myself cheering for all ten people to find the hope and resolution they were seeking by writing. There was an update chapter at the end, and with these stories, and the country as a whole, there's still a ways to go.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains the stories of ten Americans who wrote to President Obama asking for help in addressing some of the medical, social, environmental and political issues of our time. Published in 2011, it unfortunately does not address the gun control debate or the heartbreaking Sandy Hook shootings. President Obama answers some of his correspondence personally. I really enjoyed reading this book and would highly recommend it. It would make a great non fiction book club selection as there are many topics for group discussion.

[Jessica Medved · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed this read.
It was a nice insight into who Obama is and what he does and how he stays connected. I think another thing that drew me to this read is the real stories. These were real people who wanted real answers and they got them.
It is stuff we can all relate to - we all have been there or have known someone who has been there and it is nice to know that someone is listening.

I would recommend this read to any one who likes human interest stories or politics and current events.

[Leslie (updates on SG) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The book gives an even-handed yet compassionate account of Americans from all walks of life, touching upon issues that are understandably still relevant: health care, immigration, war, education, and the environment. I learned a bit about the Presidential "bubble" and the histories of the Secret Service and White House mail. As a communications instructor (and Obama fan), I appreciated how Obama thought about responding to letter writers who probably did not expect him to actually read their missives.