Young Mr. Obama
Chicago and the Making of a Black President
By Edward McClelland
October 2010
$24.00
288 pp
5.5 x 8.25 in
Hardcover
By Edward McClelland
How the rough-and-tumble reality of Chicago taught a brilliant but callow young African American politician the lessons that launched him on the road to history.
Barack Obama's inspirational politics and personal mythology have overshadowed his fascinating history. Young Mr. Obama gives us the missing chapter: the portrait of the politician as a young leader, often too ambitious for his own good, but still equipped with a rare ability to inspire change. The route to the White House began on the streets of Chicago's South Side.
Edward McClelland, a veteran Chicago journalist, tells the real story of the first black president's political education in the capital of the African American political community. Obama's touch wasn't always golden, and the unflappable and charismatic campaigner we know today nearly derailed his political career with a disastrous run for Congress in 2000.
Obama learned from his mistakes, and rebuilt his public persona. Young Mr. Obama is a masterpiece of political reporting, peeling away the audacity, the T-shirts, and the inspiring speeches to craft acompelling and surpassingly readable account of how local politics shaped a national leader.
Quotes for Young Mr. Obama :
“Where did Barack Obama come from? No answer to that question can be complete without the stories that unfold in this book. Many of them date from the time when Edward McClelland was just about the only reporter covering the young and unknown Obama. Understanding how this extraordinary leader rose from Chicago politics to the pinnacle of world power is not possible without the insights in "Young Mr.Obama.”— Stephen Kinzer, author of Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq
Reviews for Young Mr. Obama :
“So the question was whether is this just another Obama book. The answer is no. The great strength of the book lies in it coverage of the early years…. delving into all this breaks new biographical ground and will function as a solid foundation for future books on the subject. The book is a must-read for all Obama political junkies who want to know more for it does significantly advance the historical record regarding his younger years.” Read review.—John Presta, New York Journal of Books
•“Young Mr. Obama: Chicago and the Making of a Black President,” by Edward McClelland (Bloomsbury): Fascinating examination of a young man on the road to political greatness."—Steve Paul, The Kansas City Star. The year’s top 100 books Read more.
Chicago Sun-Times review.
“With Young Mr. Obama, Edward McClelland finishes what The Bridge started, showing how Obama navigated Chicago political life, which can be as rough as a Blackhawks game…. McClelland’s book is long on reporting and narrative, and short on meditation and analysis – for which readers can be thankful…. For the many Americans who remain fascinated with the American president, Young Mr. Obama makes for insightful, enlightening reading, a worthy supplement to Remnick’s book and a valuable contribution to the record on the 44th president.”—Jordan Michael Smith, The Christian Science Monitor. Read full review.
McClelland will be interviewed by Chicago’s WGN-AM host Milt Rosenberg for his new online show, “Podcast Exclusives” and while he is in New York for his panel at the Schomburg Center, he will be interviewed on New York 1 News’ “Inside City Hall”
Here’s the interview Ted did with FOX News’ Jonathan Hunt on the network’s online exclusive show “The Strategy Room” !
And a great feature in Ted’s hometown paper, the Lansing State Journal
"Edward McClelland's Young Mr. Obama argues convincingly that our first black president couldn't have come from any place other than Chicago. If you want to understand the 'Chicago-style' politics that shaped our president--the real thing, not the right-wing cartoon--you have to read Young Mr. Obama."—Joan Walsh, editor in chief of Salon.com
Edward McClelland’s YOUNG MR. OBAMA was the subject of a blog post on U.S. News & World Report’s “Washington Whispers” recently!!
"If you like Obama, here’s one you ought to check out: Young Mr. Obama: Chicago and the Making of a Black President (Bloomsbury, $24) by local author Edward McClelland. The book, which comes out Oct. 12, opens with Obama’s political beginnings on the South Side of Chicago and ends with his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004." “Early in in his Chicago years, he realized his adopted home was the perfect training ground for solving America’s problems, racial and otherwise,” writes McClelland. “Barack Obama came to Chicago decades after the Great Migration, but for a young black man with political ambitions, it still turned out to be the promised land.”—Chicago Sun-Times. Read article.
“[McClelland] makes a convincing case that President Obama’s experiences in his adopted city shaped him profoundly and helped make him the seasoned and formidable politician he is today. An engaging overview of the president’s early political education.”—Kirkus Reviews
“As Barack Obama’s presidency is beset by falling ratings, a weak economy, and an antideficit mood, McClelland’s examination of Obama’s ascendency should encourage supporters and instill caution in opponents.”—Publishers Weekly
