Barack Obama: Conservative, Pragmatist, Progressive

by Burton I. Kaufman

Following his election, President Obama's supporters and detractors anticipated radical reform. As the first African American to serve as president, he reached the White House on a campaign promise of change. But, as Burton Kaufman explores in this insightful biography, Obama showed clear patterns of classical conservativism of an ideological sort and basic policy-making pragmatism. His commitment to usher in a multiracial, multiethnic, and multicultural society was fundamentally connected to opening up, but not radically altering, the existing free enterprise system. The Affordable Care Act was a distillation of President Obama's complex motivations for policy. More conservative than radical, the ACA fitted the expansion of health insurance into the existing system. Similarly, in foreign policy, Obama eschewed the use of force to affect regime change. Yet he kept boots on the ground in the Middle East and supported ballot-box revolts geared toward achieving in foreign countries the same principles of liberalism, free enterprise, and competition that existed in the United States. In estimating the course and impact of Obama's full political life, Kaufman makes clear that both the desire for and fear of change in the American polity affected the popular perception but not the course of action of the forty-fourth US president.

Genres: Politics, Presidents, Biography, Nonfiction

392 pages, Hardcover

Published March 15, 2022

About the author

Burton I. Kaufman is a Professor Emeritus for the History Department in the Miami University of Ohio.

Reviews

[Brandon Westlake · Rating 4 out of 5]

The strength of Kaufman's book is that it provides an opposite view to the current historiography that is starting to take shape around #44. Kaufman previously wrote a book on Carter's presidency, really casting him as a misunderstood leader. He does the same here with Obama. The title is enough to tell you about his argument, and he tries to turn the weaknesses that many see in Obama as strengths that people have misunderstood.

Historians seem to see Obama as a good campaigner, not necessarily effective at transferring that skill to governance. They also look to his inability to work through compromises in the system (and therefore, expand executive power particularly through executive order). They also point out Obama's naivety, pointing out his optimism regarding the election that ushered in Scott Brown, the rise of the Tea Party, ISIS, and Trump.

Kaufman looks at these events, and in some instance (especially Brown and Trump) points out that indeed, Obama seems naive. However, he was willing to adjust to these developments rather than let them consume him. I'm not totally convinced of Kaufman's argument, but it provides a good alternative that needs to be considered. Read it as history, not through the lens of seeing Kaufman as a supporter of Obama or not.

[Henry Atkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Burton Kaufman is a respected presidential historian and Professor Emeritus of History at Miami University of Ohio. His main two arguments in Barack Obama is that the 44th President used conservative means to liberal ends and that despite the hype around his election to the office, Obama was an effective President. While Kaufman’s argument is interesting and the book is well-researched, it also comes across as a textbook or a college lecture. Only on a few occasions do we get to see the inner workings of the Obama family or the Obama administration. But worst of all, there are several small errors in the book, such as Supreme Court Justices “Arthur” Kennedy and Elena “Hagan,” Savannah Guthrie is “Sandra” Guthrie, Rand Paul is mistaken for his father, multiple years are incorrect, and Kaufman calls Vladimir Putin a “Soviet” leader when he is President of Russia(although given Putin’s KGB background, perhaps this is a Freudian slip). While this is a useful study of the Obama presidency and 44’s life, it will likely not be the definitive biography of Barack Obama. Rating: 3/5

[Cindy(groundedinreads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I requested this book, I was under the impression that this was a biography. I guess technically it is but much of it details the inner workings of the Obama presidency concerning the situations and obstacles he faced while in office. I enjoyed the background that led to Obama’s presidency and found it interesting to read about his time in Chicago as an up and coming political power. The book is not at all persuasive as to left or right viewpoints, which I appreciated as I wanted to read this for knowledge and historical purposes; not political.
Despite the constant ADVANCE READER COPY* UNCORRECTED PROOF* THIS DOCUMENT MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED…. notification/warnings on nearly every single page, this was a quick read.

[Venky · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 44th President of the United States was known for his flowing oratorial skills, an attitude that struck friend and foe as unflappable (the one exception being the tragic Sandy hook shooting incident, talking about which made the President extremely emotional), and an outlook that endeared him to the nouveau riche and Vieux riche alike. But, as Burton I. Kaufman, Professor Emeritus for the History Department in the Miami University, writes in his new book, “Barack Obama: Conservative, Pragmatist, Progressive”, Barack Hussein Obama was also a juggler of paradoxical hats. A jugglery that confused and confounded progressives and conservatives in equal measure.

As the title of Kaufman’s book suggests, Obama’s eventful and landmark tenure (the first Black to have been elected President of America) saw the President walk a political tightrope and balance priorities and prerogatives in his own inimitable manner. Whether it be bulldozing the Affordable Care Act (derisively known as “Obamacare” by his Republican Opponents) into legislation, or advocating and entering into a nuclear deterrent agreement with the moderate leader of Iran, Hossan Rouhani – and in the process ruffling the feathers of both Democrats and Republicans alike – Obama was a progressive, yet conservative, a pragmatist yet theorist. Obama always fell back on the words and works of his favourite theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. Niebuhr embraced a radical approach to theology and ethics which he termed Christian realism. According to the philosopher, a primary reliance on the power of reason through education and moral suasion was naïve and misplaced.

The main planks on which the entire presidential campaign of Obama tested represented an unshakeable commitment to usher in a multiracial, multiethnic, and multicultural society, while at the same time preserving in its original and intended shape the tenets of a free market enterprise. No wonder Bill Clinton was more than just a tad miffed when Obama referred to Reagan as one of the more progressive Presidents. These kinds of conflicts and paradoxes permeated the Presidency of Obama. While a vehement and vociferous opponent of George W. Bush’s military unilateralism, Obama was obsessed with the use of drones to carry out targeted and precision attacks on terrorists. A total of 563 drone strikes, aimed at the geographies of Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen during Obama’s two terms, represented an almost ten-fold increase in such strikes that were carried out during the Bush regime. The latter authorized just 57 drone strikes.

Kaufman also highlights the struggle faced by Obama in tacking the rising racial tensions during his eight year term in the White House. The indiscriminate killings of Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, and Michael Brown that led to the Black Lives Matter Movement, threated to disrupt the President’s avowed objectives of racial equality and justice. Exacerbating the issue was acerbic sermons delivered by Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s pastor. Excerpts of the sermons were found to allude to terrorist attacks on the United States and government dishonesty. These were unsurprisingly subject to intense media scrutiny, and Obama was forced to publicly disown Wright which understandable stirred up angry sentiments amongst the black populace.

Obama also made it a mission to get the United States sign up to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. A deft maneuvering in the Senate and the Congress following heated debates ensured that the United States ultimately signed up to the accord. However, Obama’s successor, Donald Trump pulled the USA out of the Agreement only for Joe Biden to reinstate it in what was a prolonged game resembling snakes and ladders.

A political aspect that caught both Obama’s ambition and, ultimately, his goat, was the doomed Transpacific Partnership (TPP). Positioned as an “antidote” to China and Xijin Pin’s hegemonic forays in the South China Sea, TPP was intended to keep the motives of China under check by a coalition of 12 Asia Pacific nations. However the monetary muscle of China that had many nations in the Asia Pacific firmly entangled finally prevailed and the TPP remained a still born child before being put to rest by Donald Trump.

Kaufman also provides a compelling insight into Obama’s early years as a biracial child spending time between Indonesia and Hawaii, his tumultuous years as the first Black President of the Harvard Law Review, his courting of Michelle Obama while interning at the law firm, Sidley & Austin (where Michelle was his senior), the President’s early experience as a community organiser, a tactful building of political connections with senators such as Paul Simon, and Dick Durbin and his testy tussles with Hillary Clinton when both of then contested in the Democratic Primary.

While not a comprehensive treatise on Obama’s life or principles, “Barack Obama” is a luring appetizer which indicates that the dessert is still many courses away.

[Mitchell Felix · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little didactic and events-focused at times when I wanted a bit more of a focus on pinning down Obama’s ideologies but it was a good dispassionate look at a president that I was only obliquely aware of during his time in office. As far as neoliberals go I’d say he’s one of the good ones

[Steve's Book Stuff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Burton Kaufman’s new book is a presidential biography of Barack Obama. This is not a political book - from the left or the right - on Obama and his legacy. Kaufman does have a viewpoint on Obama’s motivations and his place in the political spectrum, as reflected in his subtitle. Yet, these days, when everything has a political agenda, this book is a refreshingly neutral and historical look at Obama’s presidency.

Kaufman is a retired history professor and the author of a similar presidential biography on Carter. He also wrote The Post-Presidency from Washington to Clinton, on the evolution of the “office” of the ex-president. In this book he digs into Barack Obama’s young life and influences, and his political rise from Illinois politics to the presidency. He takes us through the issues that Obama tackled and was faced with, both domestic and foreign, as president. His emphasis is on the actions Obama took and the policy goals he strove to achieve.

Kaufman does a good job of outlining the ideas that influenced Obama, and his pragmatic approach to getting things done as President. While Obama sought consensus and was willing to negotiate, he also held to his core principles. His ability to be pragmatic meant that he drew criticism from both the left and the right. For Kaufman, Obama’s legacy is one of progressive policies built on top of conservative American ideals, wrapped in centrist clothing, and achieved by pragmatic politics. The Affordable Care Act is the prime example of this approach, though Kaufman offers other examples as well.

One example of Kaufman’s neutral approach that stood out to me was his discussion of Obama’s handling of the 2008 economic crisis, the rise of the Tea Party, and the later election of Trump.

Obama’s decisions in dealing with the 2008 economic crisis fueled the rise of the Tea Party Republicans. Obama chose to follow the guidance of his mostly conservative economic advisors. He focused bailout efforts on the “too big to fail” banks, and the auto companies. This proved to be effective in heading off a looming economic depression. But at the same time, relatively little effort was made by the government to bail out average Americans.

Many Americans found themselves owing more money on their homes than they were worth. Many lost jobs due to the recession, and then lost their homes to foreclosure. Kaufman goes into quite a bit of detail about this. He also talks about how the rising Tea Party movement became a breeding ground for racism and white supremacy. Kaufman lays out all these facts, but ever the historian, he doesn’t even try to get into the political discussion of how these currents of disaffection may have primed the pump for Trump’s later popularity. He prefers to document the facts, and allows you to draw your own conclusion.

Don't’ misunderstand - there is much more than the 2008 economic crisis covered in this book. The whole of Obama’s presidency, and then some, is covered.

The book’s subtitle is a bit cryptic, but it’s Kaufman’s way of saying he finds Obama to have been a left-leaning centrist. That doesn’t seem an uncommon insight. And that’s the one bad thing I have to say about this book - it doesn’t have anything particularly new to say. It’s a well researched and well done historian’s view of President Obama, his presidency, and his place in our country’s history. But I’m knocking it down a bit for that perceived lack of originality. I give Barack Obama: Conservative, Pragmatist, Progressive Three Stars ⭐⭐⭐.

NOTE: I received an advanced copy from Netgalley and Cornell University Press. I am voluntarily providing this review. The book will be publicly available on March 15, 2022.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Burton I. Kaufman, Barack Obama Conservative, Pragmatist, Progressive, Cornell University Press, 2022

Thank you, NetGalley, for this uncorrected proof for an honest review. I note that this proof was made particularly difficult to read as the information about its status appeared throughout the text (a page every few pages was impacted), with the information interspersed with sentences in the text. However, the text was read in its entirety and the difficulty has not influenced my review.

Burton I. Kaufman’s Barack Obama Conservative, Pragmatist, Progressive is a timely read as President Joe Biden attempts to traverse the same recalcitrance from the Republicans – even where they are not in the majority. Then, as now, they do not have to be in the majority, making a mockery of the magnificent win in Georgia run offs by Democrats, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff which promised so much for Democratic Party values and President Biden’s program. The Obama years provide an instructive, as well as fascinating, read to a person unfamiliar with American politics, and a deeper analysis of these years for those more with more experience of the way in which the President and Congress work together to achieve, or in many instances, obstruct, the policy process.

This book appears to me to be more of a narrative about Obama and his policy ideals and making, domestic and international, than a biography. There are asides to his past, his family life, and political colleagues, rivals or opponents. However, the wealth of information resides in the way in which Obama approached policy making, and his efforts to achieve its implementation. I welcomed this approach, as I found the detailed story of how the role of the President works an excellent adjunct to understanding the current situation in the American political scene. It is also a worthy aim in itself –adopting a personal approach through using a captivating figure, to gather the details of how the administration works makes an intriguing, if sometimes disheartening, story.

At the same time, the author’s feelings and beliefs about Obama and his presidency are quite informative. Kaufman appears to be keen to get ‘the real’ Obama before his readers. In part, this leads to some fairly critical assessments at the same time as acknowledgment of where Kaufman believes Obama’s achievements are worthy of positive recognition. This is not a wholehearted acclamation of the man or the achievements of the period, and it does not need to be. The speeches that were compelling are acknowledged, along with recognition that some were not; information about Obama’s relationships with his colleagues and commentary on opponents is instructive about his ability to respond to criticism; his occasional inclination to become engrossed with an argument which is not palatable to his audience is noted, at the same time as his enthusiasm for progressive causes for which he makes undeniably sound arguments.

Overall, this is a competent work, which covers an interesting presidency and period in American politics. Kaufman has made a worthwhile contribution to the work about Obama and his presidency, raising issues that for some readers will feature new aspects of the role and governing.

[Reko Wenell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think Kaufman’s assessment is a pretty accurate one. While Obama is a progressive, he was not a radical but a progressive. He sought to find pragmatic solutions to change the system for better in limited but substantial ways instead of pushing for any sort of a revuilding of the system. He took conventional advice and did the ”responsible thing”. There’s much to admire in Obama’s way of handling the presidency. Heck, there’s a huge deal. Like has there been a better president since FDR? Perhaps, but he’d at least be a top contender. Yet that is not too high a bar to clear. As time goes by I question it more and more. Many things were achieved to be sure but could a different, less pragmatic and ”adult” strategy still have been a better choice in some cases? Would this age have required a more warlike stance to start building a coalition against the rising far-right forces? Would that have worked better than what went down or just failed in a miserable way? How much can a single man actually do, even if he’s an US president? These questions have no simple answers which is why the current moment is such a scary one. There is no simple, proven way to counter the rise of the far-right, if there are some ideas one can work with.

[Benjamin Henley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is a good balanced take. I was in my adolescence during the Obama years and this was a good review of his life and presidency.

Time will increasingly become less supportive for Obama’s presidency. I think there were real opportunities to bridge major social-economic and racial gaps, especially in ‘08-10 when he had support of both houses and could reshape and define U.S. finance after the crash. But the title keys in that he was a conservative and pragmatic individual. He repeatedly opted in on market forces and self-discipline for financial and sociological matters. That isn’t to say he wasn’t well intentioned or intelligent, but the consequences of his decisions are significant.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. It is well written and well paced. I liked that the book focuses more on Obama’s political attitudes and accomplishments and less on the details of his personal life. I also feel that the book is a fair appraisal of Obama, without it being either a condemnation nor a paean. I found the book very compelling and hard to put down. Thank you to Netgalley and Cornell University Press for the advance reader copy.

[LaShanda Chamberlain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you so much for this advance copy!

I throughly enjoyed reading this reflection of Barack Obama’s presidency. I found this book very informative & honest. The author wrote from a place of neutrality. He reflected back on the good & bad of His presidency. Admittedly, I voted for Obama twice & I often viewed his presidency via rose colored lens. This book allowed me to reflect on all aspects, even the missteps. How history will score the Obama presidency still remains to be seen..

[Shannan Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives a compreshensive life of our 44th president, and the first African American, Barack H. Obama. The beginning of the book was very informative and interesting and full of some things I knew, as well as some things I didn't know. Some parts did seem to not be as interesting, but overall I enjoyed this book

[mib6475654 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book! I found it insightful and interesting and I genuinely enjoyed reading about Barack Obama in this way.

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 4 out of 5]

Operation Read Every President's Biography #44

[Holly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Multiple errors in the book. Savannah Guthrie is referred to as Sandra Guthrie, and Rand Paul is confused for his father Ron Paul, who never was a senator representing Kentucky.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Painstakingly researched, frank, and objectively written, this lifts the veil on Barack Obama, offering us glimpses into the man's mind, character and personality and fascinating insights into his intellect, career, determination, and ambition.

Most readers will only know Obama as the ‘finished product’, so to speak, which is why this book excels since it reveals much about the unpolished hubris of its protagonist during his early career.

It adequately conveys the truisms of mainstream US politics without claiming to offer any earth-shattering political revelations. It’s a decent work of research that is non-partisan, defending and criticising the former President equally.

My thanks to NetGalley and Cornell University Press for granting this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.