I recently had a chance to review Dear Barack: The Extraordinary Partnership of Barack Obama and Angela Merkel by Claudia Clark. I was intrigued by this book because I have a special interest in Germany, having traveled there quite a few times and had the chance to live and work there. Obama was also one of the first presidents of my adult life. So I hoped being able to read a book that connected the two of them would be fascinating.
I wasn't disappointed. Although the book is a little dryer than fiction or some of the other "fun" non-fiction books I get to read, it was still very interesting and clearly well-researched. The book details a little bit about each politician's background before going through their overlapping political timelines. One thing I really loved about the book was how much it made use of actual quotes from Obama or Merkel about the other person.
Even though the two of them often had different ideas on how best to solve challenges facing the world, they clearly had mutual respect for each other. The book covers the key highlights of events that shaped their political relationship, and gives more insight into how they got along, with the benefit of exploring speeches and quotes in one book instead of spread out over years. It's definitely a great read for anyone interested in politics, particularly for those who are fans of either Obama or Merkel.
Claudia Clark is an author, speaker and activist focused on social justice and democracy. In 2017, Clark and her husband moved from California to Germany, where she served as the national Get Out the Vote (GOTV) coordinator for the Democrats Abroad Germany chapter from January 2019 to May 2020. Clark has several advanced degrees, with a focus on social work, women’s history and labor relations. She currently lives in Berlin, where she is conducting research for her next book which will compare the experiences of the Northern Irish during the height of the IRA conflict with the East Germans during the Cold War.
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