summary ofA Promised LandBook by Barack Obama

first KEY POINT

Obama was a President with non-political roots

Nobody in Obama’s family ever dreamed he would one day become President. With no political background and no early interest in the subject, Obama was focused on his family and the causes close to his heart.Obama speaks of his mother as a rebellious yet kind-hearted and loving woman. Keen to shrug convention, he often heard her talking about civil rights and the demonstrations that were going on. Having been born in Hawaii, they went to live in Indonesia for a time, where his mother often balked at the corruption she saw.

Obama puts his desire for change and fairness down to his mother’s influence. She saw the world as a place that was jam-packed with new opportunities, something she passed onto her son. However, his mother was never interested in politics, and until later on, neither was he. Having grown up with little, his grandparents in Hawaii still believed he would go on to make something of himself, but nobody would have dreamed he would become President.In his teenage years, he went back to Hawaii to live with his grandparents whilst his mother remained in Indonesia for work. He puts his change of mindset down to a book sale he encountered at that time. He became obsessed with reading all the books he found and this began his political interest and later awakening.

Obama attended Columbia University where he applied himself diligently. He focused on his favorite idea of what America stood for — that everyone was equal and nobody was singled out. He eventually went to Harvard Law School, where he graduated and completed his education.