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Obama: The Call of History
Obama: The Call of History | Peter Baker
25 posts | 1 read | 2 to read
Peter Baker's authoritative history of the Obama presidency is the first complete account that will stand the test of time. Baker takes the measure of Obama's achievements and disappointments in office and brings into focus the real legacy of the man who, as he described himself, "doesn't look like all the presidents on the dollar bills." With vivid color photographs by New York Times photographers and others of the events, major and minor, public and behind-the scenes, that defined Barack Obama's eight years in office, Obama: The Call of History is a portrait in full of America's first African-American president against the background of these tumultuous times.
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Owls31092
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It didn‘t move me enough for 5 stars, but definitely a great read I would recommend to all.

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Owls31092
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Taylor Swift does it again. Cornelia Street is the perfect song for Obama‘s departure from the White House. #obama #thecallofhistory #peterbaker #taylorswift #corneliastreet #popculture #lover #popculturehistory #presidency #inaguration #departure #epilogue #foreverpresident

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Owls31092

More than Russian interference, I feel like the polls and predictions did more to influence the 2016 elections. i feel as if maybe by saying Hillary had an almost 100% chance of winning, it fueled those who were not necessarily going to vote to go vote for Donald Trump. #obama #thecallofhistory #peterbaker #donaldtrump #polls #election #2016election #hillaryclinton #russia #collusion #uspolitics #politicalscience #ushistory #history

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Owls31092
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Owls31092

My main issue with Russian interference in the 2016 election is I‘m not sure how much influence Russia had. I think those who were going to vote for Trump voted for Trump, and those who were going to vote for Clinton voted for Clinton. I don‘t think any Russian propaganda was going to change that outcome. It might have influenced a small percentage of undecided voters, but I don‘t think it was enough to change the outcome of an entire election.

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Owls31092
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And now, the discussion- Should countries welcome “constructive criticism” from other countries? If so, does that include countries that are adversaries as well as allies? After visiting Cuba, President Obama welcomed President Raúl Castro‘s criticism of the United States and treated it as a learning moment. Many conservative republicans saw this as apologizing for past mistakes instead. #obama #thecallofhistory #peterbaker #presidency #cuba

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Discussion question coming soon

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Owls31092
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Owls31092

Still thinking about Barack Obama‘s foreign policy: I can‘t help but wonder if it wasn‘t for Bush‘s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, how might President Obama‘s policies have been different? But at the same time if it wasn‘t for Iraq and Afghanistan, would Obama have faced the same issues such as Syria or ISIS?

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Owls31092

Barack Obama faced a lot of uncertainty with foreign policy back in 2014, but it seems as if he was very indecisive when it came to making major decisions. It could be a trait of all presidents, but to me, it feels like he couldn‘t decide what to do, and to the people, no decision was a good decision.

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But at the same time, we‘re already in two wars- Iraq and Afghanistan, so adding Libya on top of that would cost even more troops, time and money that could be devoted elsewhere. #war #obama #thecallofhistory #peterbaker #barackobama #robertgates #muammarelqaddafi #qaddafi #arabspring #libya #internationalpolitics #politicalscience #worldhistory #history

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Owls31092
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Owls31092

At the end of the day, I feel as if Barack Obama making fun of Trump and the Republican Party backfired in the end. I believe it had an indirect effect on what will be the 2016 election. I think it is right up there with Hillary Clinton calling Trump supporters deplorable. To me, you can only make fun of people for so long before they push back and decide we‘re not going to take this and vote that party out of office. #obama #peterbaker

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Owls31092
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Part 2: Now that we know how it ended and where we are today, did Barack Obama‘s plan to make Donald Trump and the Republican Party look like a joke work out in his and the Democratic Party‘s favor? Or did it backfire? #obama #thecallofhistory #barackobama #donaldtrump #whitehousecorrespondentsdinner #ushistory #history #peterbaker #uspolitics #politicalscience #republicanparty #democraticparty

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Owls31092
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Part 1: It‘s time for a quote and a question: Barack Obama made fun of Donald Trump at the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner. His goal was to make Trump a symbol of the Republican Party and therefore making the Republican Party look like a joke… #barackobama #obama #thecallofhistory #peterbaker #donaldtrump #whitehousecorrespondentsdinner #republicanparty #jokes #democraticparty #ushistory #history #politicalscience #uspolitics

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Owls31092
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After the shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords, Obama said this at a memorial service for the victims who had been killed. I think this quote still holds up today as we move into election season here in the United States #obama #thecallofhistory #gabrielegiffords #peterbaker #ushistory #uspolitics #history #politicalscience #discourse #unity

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Owls31092
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Language Alert! Should we keep a count of how many language alerts we‘re going to have from former Vice President current President Joe Biden? I think we should. Also, I love Obama‘s response to Richard Holbrooke during the Afghan review meetings. #uspolitics #ushistory #afghanistan #defense #obama #thecallofhistory #peterbaker #barackobama #joebiden #politicalscience #history #politicalblunders

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Owls31092
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I went back and forth on this discussion but as a revert and an anti-war activist, I decided to ask anyway. Conservative groups called President Obama a Muslim to stir up post-9/11 fear in voters. Some groups took it farther even saying the fist-bump President Obama gave his wife, Michelle, was a jihadist signal. So my question is did these conspiracy theories have any influence on Obama‘s decisions regarding policy in the Middle East? If so, how?

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Language alert!- Right after President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, then Vice President Joe Biden congratulated him by saying “This is a big fucking deal.” 🤦🏻‍♀️ Just in case that wasn‘t bad enough, the microphone picked it up… 😐 #obama #peterbaker #barackobama #joebiden #uspresidency #presidentobama #presidentbiden #politicalblunders #uspolitics #ushistory #history #politicalscience #politicalfail #whythough #affordablecareact

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Obama‘s first crisis was the recession left over from George W Bush, but Obama didn‘t want the legacy to define his presidency #obama #barackobama #history #thecallofhistory #peterbaker #rahmemmanuel #depression #recession #uspolitics #politicalscience #economics #ushistory #history

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