Barack Obama, The Aloha Zen President: How a Son of the 50th State May Revitalize America Based on 12 Multicultural Principles

by Michael Haas, Michael Dukakis (Foreword by)

Overview

With a foreword written by former presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, this book portrays President Barack Obama as a true child of Hawai'i and explains why he believes that America can achieve even more greatness by learning from the multicultural customs of the 50th state.

Obama's aspiration to transform the United States using Hawai'i as his model has been a conspicuous theme in his books and speeches over the years. In them, he extols Hawai'i's multicultural ethos, describing how a normative, problem-solving mindset predicated on mutual respect and harmonious interchange is inculcated in the culture, politics, and society of the Islands. Indeed, this "Aloha Spirit" is imbued in Barack Obama, is part of what made him irresistibly charismatic as a candidate, and explains why voters in 2010 were baffled at his demeanor after he became the 44th President of the United States.

This unique book examines Obama's decisions as an adult and as president and exposes how they are directly linked to the culture of Hawai'i and Obama's multicultural life as a child. The author and contributors also describe the ways in which native Hawaiians were dispossessed of their sovereignty and their land, how they steadfastly sought justice, and how their quest served as a model for Obama's mobilization of support for his candidacy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440835865
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/19/2011
Pages:	464
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

Michael Haas, PhD, is the author of more than 30 books on politics and international relations.

What People are Saying About This

Jonathan Alter

"From the election of the nation's first non-white governor to its guaranteed health care plan to the Aloha spirit of friendly calm, Hawai‘i has shaped Barack Obama. His presidency cannot be understood without a better knowledge of the 50th state. This insightful and surprising book is the perfect place to begin."

Amitai Etzioni

“This volume is different from all the others written about the president. It casts a new light on his background, values, motives, and policies.”

Amitai Etzioni

"This volume is different from all the others written about the president. It casts a new light on his background, values, motives, and policies."

—

Amitai Etzioni, author of New Common Ground: A New America, A New World (2009) and Director, Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies, George Washington University

Jonathan Alter

"From the election of the nation's first non-white governor to its guaranteed health care plan to the Aloha spirit of friendly calm, Hawaii has shaped Barack Obama. His presidency cannot be understood without a better knowledge of the 50th state. This insightful and surprising book is the perfect place to begin. "

—

Jonathan Alter, author of The Promise: President Obama, Year One, Newsweek journalist, and MSNBC commentator

Editorial Reviews

About a dozen Hawaiian academics provide a brief glimpse of the political and cultural growth of the president during his youth and early adulthood. Useful for general readers and beginning explorations into the topic of political culture. Summing Up: Recommended.” —Choice

From the Publisher

Haas gathers contributors from the full range of fields in the social sciences and humanities—each writer having lived in Hawaii—to place Barack Obama and his presidency in the context of his native state and its multicultural customs.

Library Journal