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Former President Barack Obama reads from the first volume of his presidential memoirs. Today in Springfield Illinois he announces his candidacy for presidency eleven months before the final Democratic nominations take place. Up against Hillary Clinton he has to confront the sheer magnitude of the grind, sixteen hour days, life on the road and endless motels. But the results in Iowa are ‘seismic’ as he has mobilised the Black vote. His rallies take on ‘rock star’ proportions which also means his security detail is now round the clock. He becomes aware of the pitfalls of his increasing popularity, but the notion of getting into the White House is now within his grasp.

Elected in 2008, Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United States and the first African American to sit in the Oval Office. A Promised Land offers a unique and deeply personal account of his campaign to get elected and some of the landmarks of his first term. From the grind of campaigning to the Inauguration, through the financial crisis and fight for the Affordable Care Act, to his place on the world stage, Obama also reveals the private moments of self-doubt.

This book charts the unrelenting demands on the President of the USA, and threaded through it all he gives tantalising glimpses of family life with Michelle, Malia and Sasha at one of the world’s most famous addresses.

Abridged by Katrin Williams.
Produced by Julian Wilkinson; the editor is Di Speirs.