About a year ago, former President Obama sat down with me for a one-on-one, hourlong interview about his signature policy achievement, the Affordable Care Act.
The interview was for my new book, THE TEN YEAR WAR, and he agreed to it on one condition: that I not use the material until the book was officially public. The book is coming out this week -- more on that in a moment -- and so I am finally able to publish material from our conversation.
I went into the interview with two basic goals.
One was to fill in parts of the book’s narrative, especially when it came to his frame of mind at key junctures. Why, as a presidential candidate, did he settle on the policy framework that eventually became “Obamacare”? During the transition and early weeks of his presidency, how much pressure did he face to back off health care, given how difficult it was likely to be politically? And so on.
My other goal was to get his reflections on what had worked, what hadn’t and why -- with a particular focus on lessons for the next president trying to enact similarly ambitious, progressive reforms. Our interview was in March, 2020, and obviously neither of us knew that Joe Biden would now be president with a Democratic Congress, or that the pandemic would create both a need and an opportunity to pass major legislation. But here we are, and it makes those lessons a lot more relevant.
I wrote about some of Obama’s answers, adding some of my own thoughts about the lessons of the ACA, in an article that ran in HuffPost on Sunday. You can read it here. For the rest of Obama’s insights, and of course the full story of the ACA, you’ll have to read the book.
Speaking of…
The Book Comes Out Tomorrow!
Yes, THE TEN YEAR WAR is officially out on Tuesday. As a reminder, it’s my attempt to write a comprehensive history of Obamacare and the fights over it. The book covers a lot of policy, but really the focus is more on politics — a case study in how America has become nearly ungovernable.
I tried *really* hard to make the book accessible and engaging, with vivid characters and a storyline. I'm proud to say that the early reviews have praised THE TEN YEAR WAR for precisely that reason. Here are some highlights:
"an engrossing behind-the-scenes account" -- Publisher's Weekly (starred review)
"an absorbing, fast-paced narrative" -- Library Journal (starred review)
"engaging, knowledgeable without being scholarly, detailed without being pedantic" -- Booklist (starred review)
On Sunday, the Guardian published an early review, which picked up on some of the newsier bits (including quotes from former Trump administration officials) and said the book "delivers depth, dish and much for Democrats to ponder."
I was especially tickled they used the word “dish.” It’s almost certainly the first and last time that will happen, given the nature of what I usually write.
Come Join Me On the Virtual Tour!
Because a traditional book tour is not possible in the middle of a pandemic, I am going to be taking a virtual tour, which will include both bookstores and some other speaking venues. You can see the full list of planned events here. But I want to draw your attention to three bookstore events this week, each of which features a special guest who will act as “moderator.”
Tuesday, 7 pm: Harvard Book Store, Cambridge MA, with E.J. Dionne
Wednesday, 7 pm: Literati, Ann Arbor MI, with Michelle Goldberg
Thursday, 7 pm: Books and Books, Coral Gables FL, with Sarah Kliff
The events are all free and open to the public, and take place over Zoom or similar platforms.
You are by all means welcome to attend even if you don’t want to buy a book. But if you do decide to make a purchase, supporting an independent book store is a great thing to do, especially in these difficult economic times.
The links to the events above also let you buy the books from those sellers. Or you can always choose a store in your community. They could use the support too.
Of course, it’s also fine to buy at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
More news to come soon. Until then, thanks for reading!
— Jonathan