Barack Obama to Publish His Children's Book

Barack Obama's announcement that he would donate the proceeds of his children's book to a scholarship fund for the children of fallen and disabled American military service members arrived in November 2010 at a moment when his legislative agenda was under severe pressure and his approval ratings had declined from their post-election peaks.

The book, Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters, was written before Obama became president and illustrated by Loren Long, whose oil paintings depict the diverse heritage of American history. In it, Obama addressed his daughters directly, telling them that the qualities he saw in them — curiosity, empathy, strength, creativity — were the qualities that had built the nation. The framing situated the personal within the patriotic in a way characteristic of Obama's communication style throughout his political career.

The publication generated the kind of coverage that a sitting president's book inevitably produces — part literary assessment, part political analysis, part human interest story about a father writing to his daughters from a life conducted largely in public view. Reviewers noted the book's unusual quality for a political figure's publication: it appeared to have been written with genuine literary intention rather than as a campaign document or a fundraising vehicle.

The scholarship fund announcement was characteristic of Obama's approach to the separation between his public and private financial life. He had pledged his Nobel Peace Prize money to charity; the book proceeds followed the same logic. These gestures did not answer the political critics who found his presidency falling short of its promises, but they were noted by supporters who saw in them evidence of a genuine commitment to public service that extended beyond the political calculations of the office.

The book sold well, as presidential publications tend to do. The scholarship fund received a meaningful contribution. The daughters continued to grow up in the White House, their father's book about them on shelves across the country.