He Was Our Man in Washington

Book excerpt: 'Owen Symes is a rising young star who has created a masterful social history of the Obama years. The clarification of Obamacare and other policies for health and human services is especially helpful. As we move forward, Symes’s analysis helps us shed our illusions so we can avoid making the same mistakes all over again.' Howard Waitzkin, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of New Mexico He Was Our Man in Washington provides a detailed narrative of the years of the Obama administration gravitating around six key topics: the War on Terror, the Great Recession, marginal struggles, the Affordable Care Act, climate change, and Indigenous issues, that sit at the intersection of the other topics. Each chapter begins with a brief account of the historical context within which the Obama administration acted. The result is a fair-minded but highly critical interpretation of president Obama and his brand of "hope and change," grounded in a reality that goes beyond mere headlines.