Dear Barack: The Extraordinary Partnership of Barack Obama and Angela Merkel

by Claudia Clark

Listening rather than merely dictating demands to allied nations is a trait that Obama employed many times throughout the course of his presidency

Obama understood that one speech would not erase years of mistrust, but he urged people “to listen to each other, to learn from each other, to respect one another, and to seek common ground.”2

Obama had a gift of personalizing and identifying with people on their terms, and the Germans appreciated that.

citizens in free and democratic countries would never be completely free as long as people in other countries suffered or lacked basic rights.