Hitting the stores in the final days of the Obama administration, an upcoming book by one of Americas most incisive political columnists makes the "provocative argument" that most of "Obamas achievements will not only survive a Trump administration, but also the judgment of history".
"Audacity", penned by New York magazine political columnist Jonathan Chait, proclaims that in the longer run, Americans will realise that Obama was among "the greatest and most effective presidents" in American history.
The book looks at the course of eight years when Barack Obama has amassed an array of outstanding achievements as President of the United States.
"His administration pulled the economy out of a recession and saved the American economy from collapse, enacted universal health care, delivered the lowest unemployment rate in nine years, negotiated an unprecedented nuclear deal with Iran, helped craft a groundbreaking international climate accord, reined in Wall Street, launched a fundamental overhaul of our education system, and formulated a new vision of racial progress", Chait notes.
The author digs deep into Obama's record on major policy fronts and explains "why so many observers, from cynical journalists to disheartened Democrats, missed the enormous evidence of progress amidst the smoke screen of extremist propaganda and the confinement of short-term perspective".
Chait also shows how this widespread misreading (and misrepresentation) of Obama's achievements helped lay the groundwork for Republican triumph in 2016.
The book goes on to reveal why Obama's accomplishments will last despite the reactionary effort by Donald Trump and the Republicans to extinguish them.
"Audacity is a bracing tonic for those who are terrified that Donald Trump will destroy all of his predecessor's accomplishments. It also serves as a call-to-action to educate ourselves about what was actually done and, in turn, what we need to fight for going forward.
"As Chait can discuss, Obama's future is utterly unique -- as a young, popular former President who has never been disgraced by scandal or repudiated by voters, he will have a relevance in the political debate that no former president has had in decades. He's not going to fade away; he's goingn to be the leader of the opposition--and Audacity makes the case as to why he's the man to do it," the publisher, Harper Collins said in a statement here.
In a hard-hitting tweet earlier, US President-elect Donald Trump had called New York magazine a "piece of garbage" and dubbed Chait a "no-talent illiterate hack".
In turn, the author has used a screenshot of Trump's tweet in "praise for the author" section of his promotional statements.
--IANS
ss/vm
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
