The New York Times - Michiko Kakutani
The book delivers a stinging indictment of [Obama's] presidency so far…The overall picture that emerges here is that of a highly insular and centralized White House that is reluctant to listen to outside experts, prone to cutting cabinet members out of the loop and unable or unwilling to learn from its mistakes…Mr. Todd…has grounded his arguments in hundreds of interviews with Washington sources and his intimate knowledge of how that city works or (more often, these days) fails to work…The Stranger…provides the lay reader with a brisk, if depressing overview of the Obama White House, while giving Washington insiders plenty of colorful new details.
From the Publisher
"Richly sourced and deeply informed....There aren't many Washington journalists with the access, reporting skills, and authorial dexterity to write a comprehensive history of a presidential administration while it's still racking up miles on Air Force One. Todd delivers a surprising depth of insider reporting considering how few insiders have spoken publickly about this administration."—Scott Porch, Chicago Tribune
"Todd is the rare Washington commentator whose on-air musings are consistently backed by authoritative reporting....He knows his subject, and he knows how to write....Readers of The Stranger unquestionably benefit from Mr. Todd's Beltway-insider status."—Robert Draper, Wall Street Journal
"Revealing....Mr. Todd has grounded his arguments in hundreds of interviews with Washington sources and his intimate knowledge of how that city works or (more often, these days) fails to work."—Michiko Kakutani, New York Times
"Todd, the newly minted Meet the Press host and former NBC chief White House correspondent, provides an even-handed, concise, and thorough account of President Obama's first six years in the Oval Office."—Publishers Weekly
"A compelling, behind-the-scenes account of President Obama's first six years in office."—HuffPost Live
Kirkus Reviews
2014-09-30
A biography of the sitting president, who, by the author's account, would rather be anywhere but Washington, D.C.—or at least, doing anything but practicing politics as usual.Todd, newly anointed moderator of Meet the Press and a longtime NBC White House correspondent, wonders how so fortunate a campaigner as Barack Obama should "appear to be so bad at practicing the basics of politics in the back rooms of Washington, whether on Capitol Hill, on K Street, or at the Pentagon." A psychobiography may be needed to delve into the many reasons why Obama shuns confrontation, but in practical matters, Todd has it just about right: Obama is used to going it alone, doesn't mind the essential loneliness of being the leader of the free world and really means it when he decries the politics of division. All of these things make Obama, in Todd's overused formulation, a "stranger" in the clubby company town that is Washington. By Todd's reckoning, Obama may be his own worst enemy, given that in so many instances, his "struggles came from his focus on ends to the exclusion of productive means." Make nicer with John Boehner, in other words, and things might happen. Of course, as the author details, it doesn't help that the president's allies have their own agendas and that policy wonks within the White House can't agree on whether the economy is good or bad or in between. Still, the author offers a good explanation for why, positively or negatively, Obama seems so removed from both the fray and his own party, having resigned himself, at least in some measure, to the thought that "the Obama brand and the Democratic Party brand were distinct." Without much hard news that hasn't been written about elsewhere and not the equal of David Remnick's The Bridge (2010) in literary merit. Yet, both timely and pragmatic, this book is sure to attract attention.
