Over a year into his term in office, President Obama has faced leading the nation through a continuing war in Afghanistan, one of the worst economic eras since the Great Depression, and now the BP oil crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. Jonathan Alter, Chicago-native and longtime Newsweek columnist, assesses Obama’s first year as president in his book The Promise: President Obama, Year One: how well has he done? Alter interviewed Obama’s top advisors and the President himself to give an inside-look at his triumphs and failures. What is Obama like behind closed doors? How far has he advanced his campaign promise of “change we can believe in?”
Guest:
Jonathan Alter, author of The Promise: President Obama, Year One (Simon and Schuster) and a senior editor at Newsweek where he writes a column on politics, history, media and society at large. He is also an analyst and contributing correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC.