Perhaps the most pervasive theme in A Promised Land is the role of compromise in politics. Obama sought the presidency by running on a politics of bipartisan appeal, but he found an entirely different landscape facing him. Whereas he had hoped to create consensus, he constantly found himself making compromises during his time as president, and he repeatedly found his ideals and goals coming into conflict with the complex political and diplomatic demands of his position. He has received criticism for his attempts to bring together Democrats and Republicans on key issues instead of adopting a more stubborn strategy that ignored Republicans’ wishes. Indeed, Obama shares his realization, born of deep frustration, that Republicans never intended to collaborate with him productively.

On both domestic and foreign policy, Obama found himself failing to live up to his own expectations and the campaign promises he had made. He learned that being president required navigating a slew of competing priorities that did not always allow him to do what he thought was right in a given circumstance. Yet he retained his hope that the United States, helmed by his administration, could be an instrument for good in the world, in spite of these compromises.

Prejudice is the primary obstacle Obama shows himself encountering in the book—not only prejudice against him personally, but prejudice as a governing factor in national and global politics. For one thing, racism made the task of governing substantially more difficult for Obama. The election of a Black man to the White House created a backlash, leading to the rise of a populist conservative movement that urged Republicans to avoid cooperating with Obama under any circumstances whatsoever. The determined Republican pushback against Obama’s endeavors hindered everything he was trying to accomplish. He argues that this intense partisanship and the rise of Donald Trump are both results of racism against Obama and the belief among many white conservatives that they belong in charge of America.

On the world stage, Obama constantly found himself confronted with forces driven by prejudice. He encountered leaders whose governance emphasized defending oneself and one’s own group at the exclusion of anyone who might be different. Obama consistently tried to oppose them but feared that prejudice would end up being more powerful than the forces of democracy. The compromises he had to make with autocratic regimes fed his concerns that a stable, permanent democratic world order might not be possible.

As many memoirists do, Obama makes reflection and self-assessment a cornerstone of his book. He examines his successes and failures, questions his own motives, and explores what he learned from his time in politics. He shares his regrets and his moments of doubt. He considers the effect that his upbringing and experience had on his actions, words, and beliefs as president. He meditates on the struggles Michelle faced as first lady and laments that he often made things harder for her. He expresses gratitude for his daughters’ positive attitudes and lack of entitlement, but he feels regret that he did not get to witness more of the key moments of their childhood.

The memoir plays on the tension between past and present. Obama tries to recreate the events of the past in sequence, but his selection and shaping of those events on the page are informed by his present-day vantage point. For example, the political landscape during the Trump presidency informs how Obama reflects on his years in office. Knowing that the United States took a turn towards right-wing populism after his presidency, Obama identifies strains of illiberalism that he saw during his first...