Apr. 29, 2010: The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama

>> Rooney: WHEN BARACK OBAMA

FIRST CAME INTO THE PUBLIC'S

CONSCIOUSNESS, HE WAS A

FIRST TERM UNITED STATES

SENATOR FROM ILLINOIS.

A PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

QUICKLY PUT HIM IN THE

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT.

STILL THERE WERE MANY

UNKNOWNS.

NOW NEW YORKER EDITOR DAVID

REMNICK HAS AUTHORED A NEW

BOOK ABOUT HOW THE POLITICS

OF RACE HELPED FORGE THE

PRESIDENT'S AMBITION.

THE BOOK IS CALLED "THE

BRIDGE: THE LIFE AND RISE OF

BARACK OBAMA" AND DAVID

REMNICK IS HERE.

WELCOME.

>> HI, HOW ARE YOU.

>> Rooney: FASCINATING.

BECAUSE THE MORE I GOT INTO

THIS, I STARTED THINKING HOW

HERE IS A GUY WHO HAS GOT A

WHITE MOTHER FROM KANSAS, A

BLACK FATHER FROM KENYA.

HE'S AN AFRICAN, NOT AN

AMERICAN.

BARACK OBAMA COULD HAVE SORT

OF CHOSEN OR FORGED ANY

IDENTITY HE WANTED IN A

SENSE.

>> NOT ANY IDENTITY.

>> Rooney: WELL, HE WAS

BLACK SKINED.

>> BUT HE PROVED, WHAT HE

SHOWS IS THAT MANY OF US, IF

NOT ALL OF US TO SOME EXTENT

ARE GIVEN IDENTITY THROUGH

GENETICS, THROUGH FAMILIES,

THROUGH COMMUNITY.

BUT ALSO THAT WE HAVE A SAY

IN IT.

ALL RIGHT BARACK OBAMA IS IN

A HOUSE WITH HIS MOTHER AND

EVENTUALLY WITH HIS WIFE'S

GRANDPARENTS.

HIS FATHER IS IN ABSENCE BUT

WHEN HE LOOKS IN THE MIRROR

HE SEES A CERTAIN SAY.

IT IS NOT UNTIL HE LEAVES

HONOLULU, NOT UNTIL HE GETS

TO LOS ANGELES AND THEN NEW

YORK AND THEN FINALLY MOST

IMPORTANTLY TO CHICAGO IN

THE SOUTH SIDE THAT HE IS

REALLY ABLE TO FIND HIMSELF,

FORGE HIS IDENTITY, GET A

SENSE OF WHO HE IS, HIS

COMMUNITY, AND FEEL AT HOME.

FEEL AT HOME.

>> Rooney: DURING THE

PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN WE

WERE ALL KIND OF LED TO

BELIEVE THAT HE HAD, WAS

DISTANCING HIMSELF FROM THE

RACE ISSUE.

BUT IN A SENSE HE REALLY

WASN'T.

WHEN YOU GO BACK AND YOU

LOOK AT HIS CONNECTIONS TO

WHAT WAS GO ON IN CHICAGO OR

THE TITLE OF THE BOOK EVEN,

THE BRIDGE, THE SELMA

ALABAMA BRIDGE, HE WAS VERY

AWARE, HISTORICALLY OF HIS

PLACE.

>> THE QUESTION IS WHAT IS

THE RACE ISSUE, WHAT IS THE

RACE ISSUE.

IS IT THE ISSUE OF ACTUALLY

BEING A BLACK CANDIDATE FOR

PRESIDENT?

THAT'S ONE THING.

OR IS IT ISSUES POLITICAL

ISSUES, SUBSTANTIVE

POLITICAL ISSUES RELATING TO

RACE LIKE-- KATES OF

IN-- RATES OF INCARCERATION,

DRUG LAWS, POVERTY RATES,

DISCRIMINATION, ET CETERA.

I THINK BARACK OBAMA'S

HANDLERS WERE NOT EAGER TO

HAVE HIM GIVE A BIG SPEECH

ON RACE AS SUCH EARLY IN THE

CAMPAIGN.

SOME OF OF THEM WANTED TO

ESTABLISH HIM AS A NATIONAL

CANDIDATE.

FIRST AND FOREMOST.

AND IT WASN'T UNTIL THE

JEREMIAH WRIGHT AFFAIR,

LET'S CALL IT, MUCH LATER IN

THE RACE WHEN HE DECIDED TO

GIVE THE SPEECH HE HAD BEEN

THINKING ABOUT ALL ALONG.

WHICH IS THE SPEECH WE

REMEMBER IN PHILADELPHIA.

AND THERE IS NO QUESTION

THAT THE MOST RADICAL THING

AS HENRY LOUIS GATES FROM

HARVARD SAYS, THE MOST

RADICAL THING ABOUT BARACK

OBAMA IS RACE.

THE FACT THAT HE IS THE

FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN

PRESIDENT.

AS A POLITICIAN, HE'S, IN

TERMS OF HIS VIEWS HE IS

RATHER CONVENTIONAL, A

CENTER LEFT DEMOCRAT.

THERE IS MANY OF THEM.

HIS UNIQUE HIS, HIS

HISTORICAL UNIQUENESS, AT

LEAST UNTIL RECENTLY, WAS

THE FACT THAT HE IS THE

FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN

PRESIDENT.

SO THIS BOOK IS A WAY BOTH

BUY GRAPHICALLY AND IN TERMS

OF THE HISTORICAL AMERICAN

CURRENT, TO SEE HOW IT

BECAME POSSIBLE IN 2008,

THAT HE COULD GET ELECTED OR

IN FACT WHAT TOOK SO DAMN

LONG.

>> Rooney: I WAS VERY

CURIOUS ABOUT HIS MOTHER.

BECAUSE HI HEARD AND READ A

LOT ABOUT HIS GRAND MOTHER

WHO BROUGHT HIM UP.

QUITE A BIT ABOUT THE FATHER,

FRANKLY.

DIDN'T KNOW THAT MUCH ABOUT

THE MOTHER.

DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT SHE

LOOKED LIKE.

I HAD TO STAIR AT THOSE

PICTURES.

YOU DESCRIBE HER AS NAIVE.

AND THERE WAS SOMETHING

ABOUT HER.

SHE SAID WELL SHE LET HAVING

A BLACK BABY WAS CUTE, WAS

QUAINT.

SHE LOOKED AT THE CHILD FROM

ANOTHER --

>> OBAMA, I FELT, DESCRIBES

HIS MOTHER AS KIND OF NAIVE

IN HIS OWN BOOK.

I FOUND HER MUCH MORE

INTERESTING AND SHE BECAME A

MORE ROUNDED CHARACTER, I

FELT N MY OWN BOOK WHERE

OBAMA HIMSELF WAS REALLY

FOCUSED MORE ON THE MISSING

FATHER.

IN A STRANGE WAY, IN O AM

BAE AUTOBIOGRAPHY, HIS

FATHER WHO IS MISSING WHO IS

GONE, WHO IS AN ABSENCE, WHO

SAY COUNTEREXAMPLE FOR HIM

IN HIS LIFE BECAUSE OF HIS

INDISCIPLINE AND THE DECLINE

OF HIS OWN LIFE, IS A MORE

ROUNDED CHARACTER IN THE

NOVELISTIC SENSE.

OBAMA'S MOTHER IS REALLY

INTERESTING.

I MEAN SHE'S A SERIOUS

ACADEMIC.

SHE'S A SERIOUS

ANTHROPOLOGIST WHILE SHE IS

WORKING IN INDONESIA.

SHE IS VERY SERIOUS ABOUT

SOME ISSUES LONG BEFORE THEY

BECAME POPULAR LIKE

MICROLOANS, LIKE THE

EMPOWERMENT OF THIRD WORLD

WOMEN.

SHE IS VERY SERIOUS AND

INTERESTING FIGURE, ALTHOUGH

SHE TOO IS RELATIVELY ABSENT

IN OBAMA'S LIFE DURING HIS

HIGH SCHOOL YEARS WHEN HE IS

LIVING WITH HIS GRANDPARENTS.

>> TOTALLY ABSENT WHICH IS

KIND OF STRANGE BACK THEN.

BECAUSE SHE WAS YOUNG TOO.

SHE HAD HIM --

>> SHE WAS 17 YEARS OLD.

>> YEAH, 17.

ESSENTIALLY ON HER OWN.

DIVORCED RATHER QUICKLY FROM

OBAMA-- GETS MARRIED TO AN

INDONESIAN GUY, DIVORCED

FROM HIM.

AND THINKS NOTHING OF THESE

INTERRACIAL MARRIAGES.

VERY ADVANCED IN HER WAY.

VERY LIBERATED IN HER WAY.

AND YET KIND OF NAIVE AND A

LITTLE BIT AT SEA ON HOW TO

HELP HER ON SON FIND HIS OWN

WAY IN THE WORLD.

KIND OF NAIVELY SLIPPING HIM

MAHALIA JACKSON RECORDS OR

RECORDINGS OF MARTIN LUTHER

KING SPEECHES AND THE REST.

SHE COULDN'T DO WHAT HE

NEEDED SO DESPERATELY AND HE

REALLY HAD TO DO FOR HIMSELF

AND IT IS NOT UNTIL HE GETS

TO THE MAINLAND OR AS THEY

SAY IN HAWAII, OFF THE ROCK

THAT HE BEGINS TO FIND

HIMSELF.

>> Rooney: YOU DESCRIBE A

SCENE IN THE BOOK WHICH

LATE-- MUCH LATER ON, OF

COURSE, IN DENVER, THE NIGHT

HE IS ABOUT TO GIVE HIS

ACCEPTANCE SPEECH FOR THE

NOMINATION AND HE REALIZED

KIND OF THE MOMENTOUS NATURE

OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING.

>> WE DON'T KNOW HIM FOR THE

MOST PART AS AN OUTWARDLY

EMOTIONAL PERSON.

I MEAN THERE IS A LOT OF

TALK ABOUT NO DRAMA OBAMA.

COOL CAT, THE COOL QUALITY

OF COOLNESS AND ALL THAT.

BUT WHEN OBAMA WAS IN A

HOTEL ROOM ALL BY HIMSELF

WITH THE EXCEPT OF THE

SPEECHWRITER JOHN FAV ROE,

HIS AID DAVID AXELROD AND

THE GUY OPERATING THE

TELEPROMPTER HE GOT TO THE

POINT IN HIS ACCEPTANCE

SPEECH IN THAT DENVER HOTEL

ROOM WHERE HE MADE REFERENCE

TO MARTIN LUTHER KING AND

THE I HAVE A DREAM SPEECH

WHICH HAD JUST COME FOUR AND

A HALF DECADES BEFORE.

AND OBAMA KIND OF LOST IT.

HE TEARED UP.

HE STOPPED.

HE WALKED AWAY FROM THE

PODIUM.

HE HAD TO HALT THE REHEARSAL

FOR A FEW MINUTES UNTIL HE

GATHERED HIMSELF.

THAT NOT AN OBAMA WE OFTEN

SEE.

>> YOU'VE GOTTEN TO TALK TO

HIM.

>> SURE.

>> MANY TIMES BUT HAVE YOU

HEARD FROM HIM.

>> NO, AND I DON'T WANT TO.

ONE OF MY ESTEEMED

COLLEAGUES MICHAEL KINSLEY

ONCE SAID ABOUT WRITERS WHEN

HE WAS AN EDITOR THAT HE

HOPES THAT THEY HAND HIM A

PIECE AND THEY GET HIT BY A

BUS AM I WISH NO HARM ON THE

SUBJECTS I WRITE ABOUT BUT I

NEVER COMPLETELY WANT TO

HEAR FROM THEM.

IF THEY LOVE IT, YOU THINK

YOU'VE BEEN TOO EASY.

IF THEY HATE IT YOU FEEL A

LITTLE BIT BAD.

>> Rooney: YOU WILL BUMP

INTO HIM.

>> I WILL KEEP LOW.

>> Rooney: DAVID REMNICK,

GREAT BOOK, THE BRIDGE, THE

LIFE AND RISE OF BARACK

OBAMA.

THANKS FOR COMING.

THAT IS IT FOR GREATER

BOSTON.

TUNE IN EVERY WEEKDAY AT

NOON TO THE NUN 89.7 WGBH

FOR MY RADIO PROGRAM

FOLLOWED BY CALLIE CROSSLEY

AT 1.

TOMORROW NIGHT IT IS BEAT

THE PRESS, THE CIRCULATION

OF THE "BOSTON GLOBE" TAKES

YET ANOTHER HIT.

PLUS THE MEDIA'S COVERAGE OF

ARIZONA'S NEW IMMIGRATION

LAW.

THAT AND MORE TOMORROW AT 70

CLOCK.

NOW STAY TUNED FOR A LIVE

EDITION OF BASIC BLACK.

I'M EMIL ROONEY.

GOOD NIGHT.