A Hesitant Rebel: Richard Wolffe goes one on one with Obama

Obamaphiles will welcome a new book by journalist Richard Wolffe, out this month from Crown. “Renegade: The Making of a President” is being hailed by Washington insiders as a brilliant presidential profile from a man who has spent the last three years observing Obama the man. In a v-cast on Politico, Wolffe mentions offhandedly that the idea for the book came from a certain “candidate I sat next to on a plane.” Nevertheless, the book is not an advertorial for the Obama administration. Wolffe covered the Obama campaign for Newsweek and MSNBC and makes no bones about material that’s less than flattering. He describes the Obamas’ marriage difficulties in 2000 and struggles within the President’s own inner circle over his decision to appoint Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. For taste before buying, check out Huffpost’s excerpt here:

Of all his transition choices, none was easier to make, or more complex to execute, than Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. Obama had long wanted his former rival on his team, no matter what his friends and aides said about her aggressive campaign… His staff opposed the idea for the most part, arguing that Clinton would never be truly loyal. But Obama was willing to leave the primaries behind, including his own strong feelings at the time. “I don’t hold grudges,” he told his aides. “I don’t worry about the past. I’m concerned about what happens now.If she can help me and Bill Clinton isn’t too much of a liability, we should seriously look at this.”

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