The David Remnick Bridge

In 2004, no one outside of Chicago had heard of the subject of David Remnick’s book The Bridge, Barack Hussein Obama, then just a state legislator and author of a memoir titled Dreams from My Father. He then went on to win the Illinois Democratic primary, a safe seat for Democrats. It was about four months later that he delivered the famous keynote address to the Democratic National Convention (“There is not a liberal America and a conservative America; there is a United States of America”). He announced his candidacy for the presidency in January 2007 and returned to the Democratic convention as a candidate. In January 2009, he became the 44th President of the United States of America, and it took him just 58 months to become President.

restless childhood

The rise of Barack Obama, as recounted by David Remnick’s The Bridge, was not normal electoral politics, where one normally waited his turn in the sun. He burst onto the international scene as a revolutionary figure, in the league of Trotsky, Lenin and Hitler. Obama had an uncomfortable childhood due to the absence of his father, and eyewitnesses describe childhood as normal and different at the same time. It just means that as a child, Obama realized that he was destined for something important and that he was part of something bigger.

Artistic Yearnings

David Remnick’s book The Bridge also notes that Obama used to write short stories before and dreamed of becoming a novelist, like other revolutionaries. He felt uprooted in the world where he was and felt that he did not belong. Although he was a sensitive and intelligent young man, he still lived on the fringes of a strong country. He then moved to the large cosmopolitan city of Chicago in the 1980s and was immersed in a dark environment where he began to discover himself and pursue a unique ambition.

More partisan than those born in it

Barack Obama’s time as a community organizer in Chicago closely follows the lives of other revolutionaries. He lived alone in a small apartment and worked long hours. He hardly socialized with other people in his vicinity, and he came across as a person determined to become part of that culture, and would champion his cause more fervently than those who were born into that same culture. A fellow social worker was surprised to see how quickly Obama became a supporter of Chicago, even though it was clear Obama was determined to merge with the place so he could call it home.

The power of oratory

David Remnick’s book The Bridge mentions the power of public speaking that Obama discovered within himself attracted the people around him. Obama’s book on his growing racial awareness served as both a campaign manifesto and an autobiography. It was common to see someone writing his memoirs after he finished his term, but here was a man who wrote a book when he was only 30 years old and hadn’t even stood for election. His book and his fame benefited each other and he never had to worry about money again.