The Dream Begins - How Hawai'i Shaped Barack Obama (Paperback)

Born and raised in the most multicultural state in the union, United States presidential candidate Barack Obama bears the indelible stamp of his native Hawai'i. The social mores of the Aloha State and the experience of growing up in an island culture have had a deep and lasting influence on the candidate. Obama himself has noted, "What's best in me, and what's best in my message, is consistent with the tradition of Hawai'i." Glauberman and Burris offer concise lessons in Hawai'i history to help the reader understand its racial and social climate, and how such an environment could impact a young man like Obama. For, as his wife, Michelle Obama, has said, "You can't really understand Barack until you understand Hawai'i." Interviews with Obama's Punahou School classmates and teachers, as well as others who knew the Senator in his youth, add a personal dimension to the narrative. Obama's paternal and maternal family history and his years in Indonesia are also thoroughly covered.