In a new memoir titled A Promised Land, former US president Barack Obama recounts the four years since leaving the White House, including his thoughts on an increasingly divided America. Â
“Our democracy seems to be teetering on the brink of crisis—a crisis rooted in a fundamental contest between two opposing visions of what America is and what it should be,” writes Obama. The crisis “has left the body politic divided, angry, and mistrustful.” It has also “allowed for an ongoing breach of institutional norms, procedural safeguards, and the adherence to basic facts that both Republicans and Democrats once took for granted.”
The ex-president, however, expressed optimism over the presidential victory of former VP, Joe Biden, and his running mate Kamala Harris, and their “character and capacity to do what is right.”
“But I also know that no single election will settle the matter. Our divisions run deep; our challenges are daunting.”
In the memoir, the 44th president also offers tidbits and memories of life in the White House, such as where to find a discreet location to smoke and ho”drained, physically and emotionally” he and his wife, Michelle, were when they left the White House in January 2017.
“For a month, Michelle and I slept late, ate leisurely dinners, went for long walks, swam in the ocean, took stock, replenished our friendship, rediscovered our love, and planned for a less eventful but hopefully no less satisfying second act,” he said.
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