Tyler James

Dr. Matthew Bailey

His 306
December 3, 2014
Dreams from My Father
Barack Obamas life is one that has constantly been criticized and ridiculed for reasons
that he generally has no control over. The peoples opinion of him are regularly fictional and
sometimes outlandish. In his autobiography, Obama explains his background and some of his
trials and tribulations as an African American growing up in many different places including:
Hawaii, New York, Chicago, and his time at the Law School of Harvard. Although the memoir
discusses his life/ childhood, Obama chose to focus more on his fathers side rather than his
mother, even though he never had much of a relationship with his father. Without knowing his
father, Obama imagined a figure that helped shape him into the man he became today. Through
his experiences ranging from a young mixed child, to the first black President of the Harvard
Law Review, Obama has proven himself to be a dedicated and intelligent person suitable for the
presidency.
Obama is easily one of the most cultured presidents the U.S. has ever seen; from living in
Hawaii, having a Kenyan father and white mother, to living in New York and Chicago. The book
describes the state of Hawaii by saying, One thing other nations can learn from Hawaii, he says,
is the willingness of races to work together toward common development, something he has
found whites elsewhere too often unwilling to do. (iBook p. 59) This willingness to cooperate
helped Obama learn a helpful trait when it comes to working together with others. Living in
Indonesia for four years broadened his cultural perspective. One could say that his experiences

living in Indonesia and the culturally diverse Hawaii helped Obama to build a strong
understanding of foreign policy. Obama can credit some of his successes and his birth to his
grandparents, who allowed his mother, Ann, to date and marry an African American, during a
racially uneven time period.
Confidence. The Secret to a mans success. This is something Obamas grandfather
would always tell him that his father said. (iBook p. 33) Even without having a strong
relationship with his father, Obama still retained something that his father believed in, believing
in yourself is key. This is a trait that Obama has shown throughout his career, a confidence that is
unmatched to any other. He never seems to show weakness in his speeches or debates. Along
with this confidence came determination. If he set out to do something, he not only completed it,
he mastered it; starting out from when he was the President of Harvard Law Review, to being a
member of the Senate, which he was only the third African American since reconstruction, and
more recently the President of the United States of America. It is interesting that a trait such as
this can be passed down from father to son, without even having a relationship with that person.
Traveling to Kenya and visiting his Fathers family gave Obama a new look on life, his
eyes were opened to a world he had never seen. He had family members begging for help and
money. Poor Buggers. Godforsaken countries. This is how a British student described some of
the less fortunate countries within Africa. (iBook p. 450) Obama describes himself as being
angry at this comment, it was the British mans assumption that as an American, a black
American at that, could share in his view of Africa. (iBook p. 452) Shortly after, Obama is
comforted as he gets off the plane in Kenya, by a meeting of an airport employee who
recognized his last name and associated him with his father. For the first time in my life, I felt
the comfort, the firmness, of identity that a name might provide, how it could carry an entire

history in other peoples memories No one here in Kenya would ask how to spell my name, or
mangle it with an unfamiliar tongue. (iBook p. 458-459) Obama finally found a belonging,
something that he had been searching for his entire life.
One thing Obama seems to contemplate in the book, is whether or not there is a line
between white and black, whether he has to choose a side to be on. He described his early life as
belonging to two separate lives, which he believed to cause him to belong to neither. It seems as
though he implies or thinks that it is impossible to live in both a black and white world. Is
Obama suggesting that it is impossible to be both white and black? It appears that he believes
one should choose a side. Maybe this is why his memoir does not go into much detail about his
mothers impact on his life, because he choose his fathers black over his mothers white skin
color.
A Promise of Redemption, this is what Obama promised to the people he was working
for as a community organizer. (iBook p. 214) Something he carried over to the White House
from his days as an organizer was this idea on change. His main slogan when campaigning for
president was Change, he describes this need for change as a community organizer as well.
Not only on a personal or city level was there a need for change, but congress, the white house,
and the mood of the country need to be rehabilitated. He spoke on how change is not made from
the top, change originates from the roots and the people of the lower classes. (iBook p. 211) He
believed that in order for any change or work to be done, it had to start from the bottom and his
mission while in Chicago was to work with the African American Society to build something
new.
It is sad and also ignorant that some people to this day will still argue that Obama was not
born in the United States, or that he never graduated from Harvard. The Simple fact that he had

written this book years before even planning to run for the presidency, should sway the ignorant
ideals of people who will try to find anything to denounce a political figure they do not approve
of. However, this memoir is not meant to persuade one from liking or disliking Obama, rather it
is an insight on his life and accomplishments up to 1996. The memoir gave a great insight into a
now president that has been surrounded by controversy that he had no control over and even
though it may not cause anyone to flip parties by reading his book, it does provide an
understanding of how our president was shaped into the man he is today.