The World as It Is

A Memoir of the Obama White House

Ben Rhodes | 4.46 | 8,566 ratings and reviews

Recommended by Barack Obama, Jon Favreau, Dan Pfeiffer, and 5 others. See all reviews

Ranked #82 in Politics

From one of Barack Obama's closest aides comes a revelatory behind-the-scenes account of his presidency--and how idealism can confront harsh reality and still survive--in the tradition of Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.'s A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House.

For nearly ten years, Ben Rhodes saw almost everything that happened at the center of the Obama administration--first as a speechwriter, then as deputy national security advisor, and finally as a multipurpose aide and close collaborator. He started every morning in the Oval Office with the President's Daily Briefing, traveled the world with Obama, and was at the center of some of the most consequential and controversial moments of the presidency. Now he tells the full story of his partnership--and, ultimately, friendship--with a man who also happened to be a historic president of the United States.

Rhodes was not your typical presidential confidant, and this is not your typical White House memoir. Rendered in vivid, novelistic detail by someone who was a writer before he was a staffer, this is a rare look inside the most poignant, tense, and consequential moments of the Obama presidency--waiting out the bin Laden raid in the Situation Room, responding to the Arab Spring, reaching a nuclear agreement with Iran, leading secret negotiations with the Cuban government to normalize relations, and confronting the resurgence of nationalism and nativism that culminated in the election of Donald Trump.

In The World as It Is, Rhodes shows what it was like to be there--from the early days of the Obama campaign to the final hours of the presidency. It is a story populated by such characters as Susan Rice, Samantha Power, Hillary Clinton, Bob Gates, and--above all--Barack Obama, who comes to life on the page in moments of great urgency and disarming intimacy. This is the most vivid portrayal yet of Obama's worldview and presidency, a chronicle of a political education by a writer of enormous talent, and an essential record of the forces that shaped the last decade. less

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Reviews and Recommendations

We've comprehensively compiled reviews of The World as It Is from the world's leading experts.

Barack Obama Former USA PresidentAs 2018 draws to a close, I’m continuing a favorite tradition of mine and sharing my year-end lists. It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved. It also gives me a chance to highlight talented authors – some who are household names and others who you may not have heard of before. Here’s my best of 2018 list. (Source)

Jon Favreau We published an exclusive excerpt from @brhodes new book, “The World As It Is,” which is one of the best, most honest memoirs I’ve ever read: https://t.co/XBg0ae2RCd (Source)

Dan Pfeiffer @dplaz19761 @colleen_curtin @AlyssaMastro44 @brhodes It's a great book, Ben is a supremely talented writer (Source)

Gina Din @alexkuria @SIRIliciously Love that book @brhodes gives great insight (Source)

January Makamba @ernestmwasa @brhodes Yes. I read @brhodes book early this year. Fascinating. Yes, will do one of my own soon. Inshallah (Source)

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