The Education of an Idealist
A Memoir
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Narrated by:
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Samantha Power
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By:
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Samantha Power
About this listen
A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today best seller
One of Audible’s Best Audiobooks of 2019
A New York Times Notable Book of 2019
An NPR Best Book of 2019
One of Time’s Must-Read Books of 2019
An Economist Book of the Year
A Washington Post Notable Book of 2019
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2019
“Her highly personal and reflective memoir...is a must-read for anyone who cares about our role in a changing world." (President Barack Obama)
An intimate, powerful, and galvanizing memoir by Pulitzer Prize winner, human rights advocate, and former UN Ambassador Samantha Power.
In her memoir, Power offers an urgent response to the question "What can one person do?" and a call for a clearer eye, a kinder heart, and a more open and civil hand in our politics and daily lives. The Education of an Idealist traces Power’s distinctly American journey from immigrant to war correspondent to presidential Cabinet official. In 2005, her critiques of US foreign policy caught the eye of newly elected senator Barack Obama, who invited her to work with him on Capitol Hill and then on his presidential campaign. After Obama was elected president, Power went from being an activist outsider to a government insider, navigating the halls of power while trying to put her ideals into practice. She served for four years as Obama’s human rights adviser, and in 2013, he named her US Ambassador to the United Nations, the youngest American to assume the role.
Power transports us from her childhood in Dublin to the streets of war-torn Bosnia to the White House Situation Room and the world of high-stakes diplomacy. Humorous and deeply honest, The Education of an Idealist lays bare the searing battles and defining moments of her life and shows how she juggled the demands of a 24/7 national security job with the challenge of raising two young children. Along the way, she illuminates the intricacies of politics and geopolitics, reminding us how the United States can lead in the world, and why we each have the opportunity to advance the cause of human dignity. Power’s memoir is an unforgettable account of the power of idealism and of one person’s fierce determination to make a difference.
"This is a wonderful book.... The interweaving of Power’s personal story, family story, diplomatic history and moral arguments is executed seamlessly and with unblinking honesty." (Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times Book Review)
"Honest, personal, revealing...about the development of a young woman’s inner strength and self-knowledge." (Colm Tóibín, author of Brooklyn and Nora Webster)
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- Unabridged
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By the time of his assassination in 1963, John F. Kennedy stood at the helm of the greatest power the world had ever seen, a booming American nation that he had steered through some of the most perilous diplomatic standoffs of the Cold War. Born in 1917 to a striving Irish American family that had become among Boston’s wealthiest, Kennedy knew political ambition from an early age, and his meteoric rise to become the youngest elected president cemented his status as one of the most mythologized figures in American history.
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Excellent Portrait of JFK & His Times
- By John David on 12-14-20
By: Fredrik Logevall
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In My Time
- A Personal and Political Memoir
- By: Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann, Dick Cheney
- Length: 20 hrs
- Unabridged
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In his unmistakable voice and with an insider's eye on history, former Vice President Dick Cheney tells the story of his life and the nearly four decades he has spent at the center of American politics and power. In My Time is truly the last word about an incredible political era, by a man who lived it and helped define it - with courage and without compromise.
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Great Book
- By reader on 09-05-11
By: Dick Cheney, and others
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Lessons from the Edge
- A Memoir
- By: Marie Yovanovitch
- Narrated by: Marie Yovanovitch
- Length: 17 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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By the time she became US Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch had seen her share of corruption, instability, and tragedy in developing countries. But it came as a shock when, in early 2019, she was recalled from her post after a smear campaign by President Trump’s personal attorney and his associates—men operating outside of normal governmental channels, and apparently motivated by personal gain. Her courageous participation in the subsequent impeachment inquiry earned Yovanovitch the nation’s respect, and her dignified response to the president’s attacks won our hearts.
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Heroic patriot's amazing story
- By Victoria Eriksson on 03-19-22
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The Fight of Our Lives
- My Time with Zelenskyy, Ukraine's Battle for Democracy, and What It Means for the World
- By: Iuliia Mendel
- Narrated by: Jennifer Jill Araya, Iuliia Mendel
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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In this frank and moving inside account, Zelenskyy’s former press secretary tells the story of his improbable rise from popular comedian to the president of Ukraine. Mendel had a front row seat to many of the key events preceding the 2022 Russian invasion. From attending meetings between Zelenskyy and Putin and other European leaders, visiting the front lines in Donbas, to fielding press inquiries after the infamous phone calls between Donald Trump and Zelenskyy that led to Trump’s first impeachment.
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Just Great!
- By Jim Kirby on 09-20-22
By: Iuliia Mendel
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Camelot's End
- Kennedy vs. Carter and the Fight That Broke the Democratic Party
- By: Jon Ward
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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The Carter presidency was on life support. The Democrats, desperate to keep power and yearning to resurrect former glory, turned to Ted Kennedy. Camelot's End details the incredible drama of Kennedy's challenge - what led to it, how it unfolded, and its lasting effects - with cinematic sweep. It is a story about what happened to the Democratic Party when the country's long string of successes, luck, and global dominance following World War II ran its course, and how, on a quest to recapture the magic of JFK, Democrats plunged themselves into an intra-party civil war.
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Does character count in political office?
- By marwalk on 07-29-19
By: Jon Ward
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Promise Me, Dad
- A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose
- By: Joe Biden
- Narrated by: Joe Biden
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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In November 2014, 13 members of the Biden family gathered on Nantucket for Thanksgiving, a tradition they had been celebrating for the past 40 years; it was the one constant in what had become a hectic, scrutinized, and overscheduled life. The Thanksgiving holiday was a much-needed respite, a time to connect, a time to reflect on what the year had brought, and what the future might hold. But this year felt different from all those that had come before.
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A Sad Memoir
- By Jean on 12-02-17
By: Joe Biden
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Days of Fire
- Bush and Cheney in the White House
- By: Peter Baker
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 29 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Theirs was the most captivating American political partnership since Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger: a bold and untested president and his seasoned, relentless vice president. Confronted by one crisis after another, they struggled to protect the country, remake the world, and define their own relationship along the way. In Days of Fire, Peter Baker chronicles the history of the most consequential presidency in modern times through the prism of its two most compelling characters, capturing the elusive and shifting alliance of George Walker Bush and Richard Bruce Cheney as no historian has done before.
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A balanced account of the W and Cheney White House
- By Scott on 11-15-13
By: Peter Baker
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Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero
- By: Chris Matthews
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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In Chris Matthews’ extraordinary biography, we see this most beloved president in the company of friends. We see and feel him close-up, having fun and giving off that restlessness of his. We watch him navigate his life from privileged, rebellious youth to gutsy American president. We witness his bravery in war and selfless rescue of his PT boat crew. We watch JFK as a young politician learning to play hardball and watch him grow into the leader who averts a nuclear war.
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What Might Have Been?
- By Mel on 12-06-11
By: Chris Matthews
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One Mighty and Irresistible Tide
- The Epic Struggle over American Immigration, 1924-1965
- By: Jia Lynn Yang
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The idea of the United States as a nation of immigrants is at the core of the American narrative. But in 1924, Congress instituted a system of ethnic quotas so stringent that it choked off large-scale immigration for decades, sharply curtailing arrivals from Southern and Eastern Europe and outright banning those from nearly all of Asia. In a riveting narrative filled with a fascinating cast of characters, Jia Lynn Yang recounts how lawmakers, activists, and presidents from Truman through LBJ worked relentlessly to abolish the 1924 law.
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Good overview
- By steve thomas on 10-21-20
By: Jia Lynn Yang
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Counselor
- A Life at the Edge of History
- By: Ted Sorensen
- Narrated by: Ted Sorensen
- Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins
- Abridged
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Ted Sorensen, John F. Kennedy's closest advisor, recounts in full, for the first time, his experience counseling Kennedy through some of the most dramatic moments in American history. Rising from legislative assistant to speechwriter and advisor, the young lawyer from Nebraska worked closely with JFK on his most important speeches, as well as his book Profiles in Courage. Sorensen encouraged the junior senator's political ambitions and was later named special counsel to the president.
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Rare Insight
- By Robert on 05-10-08
By: Ted Sorensen
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In her award-winning interrogation of the last century of American history, Samantha Power - a former Balkan war correspondent and founding executive director of Harvard’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy - asks the haunting question: Why do American leaders who vow “never again” repeatedly fail to stop genocide?
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The Man Without a Face is the chilling account of how a low-level, small-minded KGB operative ascended to the Russian presidency and, in an astonishingly short time, destroyed years of progress and made his country once more a threat to its own people and to the world.
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What listeners say about The Education of an Idealist
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- Dilshod Mansurov
- 01-09-20
Incredible memoirs by an outstanding US statesperson
I wish I could refrain from flatter but this book is simply extraordinary! A rare insight into the world of US and global politics, as well as personal life of a brilliant woman, presented in elegant and exquisite language.
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17 people found this helpful
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- Natalie Rich
- 01-21-20
Inspirational read
This book is a powerful testament to what modern female leadership is. Samantha Power is a human rights advocate, brilliant intellect and mother. She is paving the way for other women to follow in her footsteps with her humor and honesty.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Marty Linsky
- 03-13-20
A Remarkable Intimate and Relevant Story
This is a wonderful memoir, of a compelling personal, professional. and political journey. Power’s experience represents the best of the American ideals and values: relentless optimism and hard-nosed realism about what it takes for a person, a family, a country, or the international or to survive and thrive in today’s complex world.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Nancy Elizabeth Currey
- 03-21-20
Extraordinary
Extraordinary life story in the form of a book narrated by the author. With insights into history, conflict, negotiation, compromise, tenacity, courage and hope - all in international contexts - this autobiography captures the political, economic, cultural, and humanitarian challenges from 1999-2018. The author and her book earned my highest accolades.
A international educator who has lived and world across the world and loves an earnest, compelling, complex book.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Richard Boyle
- 11-04-19
Irish girl with a big heart
A very interesting about her life growing up in Ireland with a good, but drunken Father. When came to to America with her mother going school learning to fight for the depressed, trying to get the powerful to do something to save their lives.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Robert P Schellinger IV
- 11-04-19
This is truly a life well lived
Thanks to Samantha for coming in to our lives. She is a positive force in this World. I feel she has served our Nation well, and with a President that is the greats in my life time.
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- Carmelya
- 09-02-20
Want to read more by Ms. Power
Hands down, this has to be one of the best books I have read this year. I don't like politics and this was filled with it but it didn't read like it. Ms. Power put so much of her personal life intertwined with the politics that I did not mind them so much. The life and experiences this woman had were astonishing to hear. I will admit, because I don't like politics and don't follow closely, I did not know who she was. However, this book has made me really want to search for more on her and definitely read more of her books. She is a powerful writer and really grabs your attention. Her writing makes you want to be on her team. I read Becoming by Michelle Obama earlier this year and I have to honestly say, with Ms. Power's and Mrs. Obama's books, Barack Obama was a fabulous president, and I WISH I would have paid more attention to his presidency. These two books really made me feel like I was just sitting on the front porch with my best friends sipping lemonade out of a mason jar with a straw. Bravo!!!!
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- B.L.
- 08-15-20
Extremely insightful and inspiring ...
Before seeing this book offered as a Daily Deal, I had no knowledge of Ms. Power, but after reading the summary I was hooked.
Like so many in America, I've become very disturbed at the rhetoric and incivility the comes out of Washington pretty much daily, and for the first time in my life I feel shame as an American citizen when I look at the leadership elected in this country. I know of no period of time when things were this bad and divisive, other than the time leading up to the Civil War. This book shares not only the fascinating story and experiences of Samantha Power, it provides insights and experiences that teach me about government at the highest levels of the Executive Branch and in the United Nations. It gives me hope that America can be strong and inspiring once again. It relates to me personally helping by helping me why I am feeling the way I do about our current situation and political climate. After reading it, I'm a better person. I'm certainly a fan and admirer of Samantha Power ... as she has lifted me to a higher level, and helped me grow in issues on which I too will now take a stand.
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- Caitlin Murphy
- 08-16-21
one of those books that shakes me out of complacen
Truly inspiring book. Out of habit I normally disregard or gloss over foreign affairs and focus on more domestic policy. Samantha is one of many authors that have pushed me to pay closer attention to foreign policy and humanitarian efforts.
Her reliving election night and knowing that Trump would likely unravel her accomplishments, was hard to listen to.
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- J
- 07-06-21
Outstanding!
Because the author is reading the narrative. It makes you feel like your their in the moment. I could picture sitting next to her in a meeting or hearing. Thank you for the enjoyment !
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