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Obama: The Historic Presidency of Barack Obama - 2,920 Days
A vibrant celebration of President Obama, this perfect commemorative book provides a valuable record of his historical presidency.
In January 2017, Barack Obama concluded two terms of his historic presidency. Through stunning images by White House photographers and beyond, as well as notable essays and quotes from a broad spectrum of people, Obama looks back at President Obama’s journey—from his remarkable victory to his final days in office and the significant milestones along the way.
Obama features rare and unseen photographs, along with iconic images and newspaper front pages from the president’s 2,920 days in office. It includes dramatic pictures, including the iconic shot from the situation room as the president and his staff watched the live unfolding of the bin Laden raid; day-to-day images of Obama in his roles as a world leader, policy maker, commander in chief, and father; lighthearted photos from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner; late-night television appearances; and moments with the entire Obama family.
Included are excerpts from seven historic speeches and contributions from notable historians, community leaders, journalists, academics and business leaders—including Sir Richard Branson, Laurie Garrett, Tweed Roosevelt, Anastasia Somoza and others whose lives have been touched by Obama’s actions and initiatives. Obama is truly a keepsake memento of a beloved president.
In January 2017, Barack Obama concluded two terms of his historic presidency. Through stunning images by White House photographers and beyond, as well as notable essays and quotes from a broad spectrum of people, Obama looks back at President Obama’s journey—from his remarkable victory to his final days in office and the significant milestones along the way.
Obama features rare and unseen photographs, along with iconic images and newspaper front pages from the president’s 2,920 days in office. It includes dramatic pictures, including the iconic shot from the situation room as the president and his staff watched the live unfolding of the bin Laden raid; day-to-day images of Obama in his roles as a world leader, policy maker, commander in chief, and father; lighthearted photos from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner; late-night television appearances; and moments with the entire Obama family.
Included are excerpts from seven historic speeches and contributions from notable historians, community leaders, journalists, academics and business leaders—including Sir Richard Branson, Laurie Garrett, Tweed Roosevelt, Anastasia Somoza and others whose lives have been touched by Obama’s actions and initiatives. Obama is truly a keepsake memento of a beloved president.
208 pages, Hardcover
Published April 4, 2017
98 people are currently reading
295 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
March 20, 2018
I believe most will agree with the title of Mark Greenberg’s book of text and photos. Where the division comes likely will be between those who hoped for more and those who resent the years that he occupied the Office of President of the United States. For the latter, there is little reason to read further.
This book jumped into my hands when I passed the “recently acquired” section of our local library. The first page that it opened to was a picture of President Obama at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner (2105) at a podium with Keegan-Michael Key behind him as Luther (the “anger translator”) from the famous routine of Key & Peele’s show on Comedy Central. The accompanying text showed the give and take he was willing to engage in with the press corps.
Pictures can lie, words can be false, but this thoughtful and restrained man comes across in this book as empathetic, engaged and full of humor. The pictures are excellent and use both the general media photographers and Peter Souza, the White House photographer (who has just published his own book). Some speeches are included in their entirety.
There are some unusual sections such as the discussion between Tweed Roosevelt (Teddy’s great grandson) and the President about Teddy leading a “reluctant” horse up an incline near the Grand Canyon. President Obama says, “That photograph was given to me by a cousin of yours who said that it was one of TR’s favorite pictures because it reminded him of his dealings with Congress.”
Despite the challenges of getting legislation passed during his time in office his Administration came through with:
Greater health care coverage
Avoiding another economic depression
Taking one of the world’s greatest terrorists out of the picture
Providing controls on the excesses of Wall Street
Giving us more options with the government of Cuba
Taking positive steps to address climate change with technology and world leadership
This is a man who sought consensus, had the most extraordinary relationship with his Vice President, and strived to acknowledge accomplishments of others and comfort a nation in a vast variety of situations. It reminded me how much I had taken those things for granted.
This book jumped into my hands when I passed the “recently acquired” section of our local library. The first page that it opened to was a picture of President Obama at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner (2105) at a podium with Keegan-Michael Key behind him as Luther (the “anger translator”) from the famous routine of Key & Peele’s show on Comedy Central. The accompanying text showed the give and take he was willing to engage in with the press corps.
Pictures can lie, words can be false, but this thoughtful and restrained man comes across in this book as empathetic, engaged and full of humor. The pictures are excellent and use both the general media photographers and Peter Souza, the White House photographer (who has just published his own book). Some speeches are included in their entirety.
There are some unusual sections such as the discussion between Tweed Roosevelt (Teddy’s great grandson) and the President about Teddy leading a “reluctant” horse up an incline near the Grand Canyon. President Obama says, “That photograph was given to me by a cousin of yours who said that it was one of TR’s favorite pictures because it reminded him of his dealings with Congress.”
Despite the challenges of getting legislation passed during his time in office his Administration came through with:
Greater health care coverage
Avoiding another economic depression
Taking one of the world’s greatest terrorists out of the picture
Providing controls on the excesses of Wall Street
Giving us more options with the government of Cuba
Taking positive steps to address climate change with technology and world leadership
This is a man who sought consensus, had the most extraordinary relationship with his Vice President, and strived to acknowledge accomplishments of others and comfort a nation in a vast variety of situations. It reminded me how much I had taken those things for granted.
April 4, 2023
It was definitely bittersweet to revisit the past in this beautiful volume. The essays and photos were moving and so poignantly reminded me of a time when we sensed HOPE. Times seem so dark now as our country moves backwards.
I loved having a President who was a loving husband and father while leading our country by his example.
Barack Obama was not afraid to show his humanity when crying about Sandy Hook and leading a congregation in Amazing Grace after a church shooting.
I want my President back.
I loved having a President who was a loving husband and father while leading our country by his example.
Barack Obama was not afraid to show his humanity when crying about Sandy Hook and leading a congregation in Amazing Grace after a church shooting.
I want my President back.
May 26, 2017
Oversized coffee-table style book that is worth checking out or buying for the pictures alone. Contains whole speeches, stories, and commentary from the author. Seems to really capture the spirit of the Obama years--including many fun moments but also the sad and poignant ones. Hard not to feel wistful reading it in 2017.
December 31, 2018
While I don’t usually pay much attention to coffee-table style books unless they’re art books, this one is quite a lovely volume. Not only does it contain some of the most famous photographs taken at the White House during the Obama years by Pete Souza, but also the speeches, some of the official correspondence, and legislative decisions from the Obama presidency. It’s a nice reminder of a more diplomatic time in American politics.
December 27, 2017
Refreshing to read and examine the pictures. This is how a president needs to be!
January 3, 2018
I was a bit disappointed--by editing mistakes. Both grammatical and factual. I had hoped for a better job given the subject and the expected audience. Overall, I did enjoy this commemorative book.
April 30, 2018
Insightful. Not the best Obama book or the best selling, but solid.
September 16, 2017
This was an impulse check out at the library after it caught my eye sitting among the other new releases. It's a very gorgeous large coffee table style book full of fantastic photography and several of his speeches included in their entirety. Overall a nice overview of Obama's historic presidency.
November 15, 2017
These amazing pictures are interspersed with President Obama's addresses to the nation during times of celebration and mourning and reflection. These wonderful pictures and words seem like a lifeline right now, reminding me that "the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."
January 8, 2018
4.0 / 5.0
Nice sampling of speeches interspersed with commentary and pertinent pictures. Particularly enjoyed text of speeches. What a dramatic difference from today's tone. All sounds so much better than me.
How time flies and how soon we forget.
Nice sampling of speeches interspersed with commentary and pertinent pictures. Particularly enjoyed text of speeches. What a dramatic difference from today's tone. All sounds so much better than me.
How time flies and how soon we forget.
August 28, 2017
The pictures are beautiful and the text gives a wonderful account of the president.
November 8, 2017
More information and less photos then the book on Michelle Obama.
November 10, 2017
A celebration of the Obama presidency. Beautiful photos and essays. I read it crying over our country’s idiotic decision to follow this guy with the current waking cesspool. 5 Dancing Obamas.
November 24, 2017
Many photographs and what seems to be an honest assessment of the president's accomplishments make up this large and attractive volume.
October 18, 2018
What a great book about an amazing President who tried to do so much and did so much. 💕💕
August 10, 2020
Very inspiring! What a great president he was!!
February 5, 2021
Pictures of President Obama and copies of some of his most noteworthy speeches.
December 29, 2023
#139 of 140 books during 2023
December 30, 2017
"Obama: The Historic Presidency" by Mark Greenberg was published by Sterling in 2017. This cocktail table book contains many autobiographical references such as inauguration, farewell, summit, and national conference speeches with pictorial storylines and numerous analytical references. The book highlights Obama's challenges, family life, commander in chief actions, humor, and digital technology influences. I enjoyed reading the book and reflecting on the book's photographic storylines. (P)
November 6, 2018
A great book for the coffee table with vibrant pictures from the Obama Presidency.
November 26, 2021
Yes we can, make a few more bucks by repackaging already-published photos
For a photo book, there is a remarkable paucity of candid photos of the main subject.
Obama’s presidency was indeed historic, but also tragic. With the promise of so much change, and the actual ability to enact most of the promised change - at least over the first year, yet so little was actually done. It’s heartbreaking.
The photo of Barack telling Bernie to be more optimistic as he patronisingly holds up a nearly-full glass… and knowing that Barack just a few years later worked his ass off to collude with other corporate democrats to prevent Bernie from being elected—preventing the positive changes Barack himself had campaigned on… just heartbreaking.
For a photo book, there is a remarkable paucity of candid photos of the main subject.
Obama’s presidency was indeed historic, but also tragic. With the promise of so much change, and the actual ability to enact most of the promised change - at least over the first year, yet so little was actually done. It’s heartbreaking.
The photo of Barack telling Bernie to be more optimistic as he patronisingly holds up a nearly-full glass… and knowing that Barack just a few years later worked his ass off to collude with other corporate democrats to prevent Bernie from being elected—preventing the positive changes Barack himself had campaigned on… just heartbreaking.
July 6, 2020
Magnificent, nostalgic book that reminds me of a better time in US Politics. History will look very fondly on Obama, perhaps as one of the greatest US Presidents of all time. (and this is coming from someone who preferred Trump over Hillary).
It was really interesting reminiscing over so much that Obama achieved and didn't achieve. The book looks back at all the challenges that Obama faced and includes some very interesting and revealing pictures of Obama's time at The White House.
It was really interesting reminiscing over so much that Obama achieved and didn't achieve. The book looks back at all the challenges that Obama faced and includes some very interesting and revealing pictures of Obama's time at The White House.
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December 6, 2021I also got this as a Christmas present from my parents. I thought that this was such an easy and interesting read.
April 2, 2017
First, a note about the information presented here: Ken Burns wrote the forward in my copy, not President Clinton.
God, was this a beautiful, sad reading experience. The amazing ups and frightening lows were portrayed here in vivid reality - VP Biden getting his medal, Obama singing at the funeral in Charleston, the capture of bin Laden, the names of the first graders murdered in Newtown, the Affordable Care Act and the tragedy in Orlando.
The pictures and essays were stellar and had that ability to bring the reader back to the time and event portrayed. I remember CBS breaking in on that Sunday night, saying the president was preparing to address the nation. I was on the cusp of adulthood when 9/11 happened so I feared another attack. My mother, who was sent home from school in November 1963 after President Kennedy died and saw the horror of Vietnam unfold on the nightly news, feared war. The relief still shimmered through me, all these years later, reading the President's address to the nation.
I still cried reading his words and recitation of the names of the babies in Newtown.
Highly recommended.
God, was this a beautiful, sad reading experience. The amazing ups and frightening lows were portrayed here in vivid reality - VP Biden getting his medal, Obama singing at the funeral in Charleston, the capture of bin Laden, the names of the first graders murdered in Newtown, the Affordable Care Act and the tragedy in Orlando.
The pictures and essays were stellar and had that ability to bring the reader back to the time and event portrayed. I remember CBS breaking in on that Sunday night, saying the president was preparing to address the nation. I was on the cusp of adulthood when 9/11 happened so I feared another attack. My mother, who was sent home from school in November 1963 after President Kennedy died and saw the horror of Vietnam unfold on the nightly news, feared war. The relief still shimmered through me, all these years later, reading the President's address to the nation.
I still cried reading his words and recitation of the names of the babies in Newtown.
Highly recommended.
April 7, 2017
Brought me to tears. A truly beautiful read about a truly dynamic man.
April 20, 2017
There is little doubt that this book has been lovingly and intelligently edited. The images are revealing, most giving insights into the President that I had never known - and more importantly, they prove what a sincere, compassionate, dedicated man Obama is. If you want to know what Obama represents for the country, all you have to do is look through this book. Captions are strong, informative. The layout crisp and thrilling. The book? The book is history visited, revisited, remembered and celebrated.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews