The Stranger: Barack Obama in the White House Audiobook By Chuck Todd cover art

The Stranger: Barack Obama in the White House

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

The Stranger: Barack Obama in the White House

By: Chuck Todd
Narrated by: Chuck Todd
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $35.09

Buy for $35.09

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

A nuanced, behind-the-scenes, and analytical narrative of President Obama's White House tenure, by NBC's award-winning Chief White House Correspondent.

Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008 partly because he was a Washington outsider. But when he got to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, that distinction turned out to be double-edged. While he'd been a brilliant campaign politician, working inside the system as president turned out to be much more of a challenge than Obama had ever imagined.

In The Stranger, NBC Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd draws upon his unprecedented inner-circle sources to create a gripping account of Obama's tumultuous White House years. In doing so, not only does Todd give us the most revealing portrait yet of this fascinating president and his struggles, but illuminates what "Obamism" really is, what the president stands for, and how his decisions have changed - and will change - American politics for generations.

©2014 Chuck Todd (P)2014 Harper Audio Americas History & Theory Political Science Politicians Politics & Activism Politics & Government United States

Listeners also enjoyed...
Confidence Man Audiobook By Maggie Haberman cover art
Confidence Man By: Maggie Haberman
Prequel Audiobook By Rachel Maddow cover art
Prequel By: Rachel Maddow
Enough Audiobook By Cassidy Hutchinson cover art
Enough By: Cassidy Hutchinson
A Promised Land Audiobook By Barack Obama cover art
A Promised Land By: Barack Obama
The Audacity of Hope Audiobook By Barack Obama cover art
The Audacity of Hope By: Barack Obama
Romney Audiobook By McKay Coppins cover art
Romney By: McKay Coppins
The Fight of His Life Audiobook By Chris Whipple cover art
The Fight of His Life By: Chris Whipple
FDR Audiobook By Jean Edward Smith cover art
FDR By: Jean Edward Smith
Game Change Audiobook By John Heilemann, Mark Halperin cover art
Game Change By: John Heilemann, and others
President Kennedy, The Collected Speeches, Extended Edition Audiobook By John Kennedy cover art
President Kennedy, The Collected Speeches, Extended Edition By: John Kennedy
American Lion Audiobook By Jon Meacham cover art
American Lion By: Jon Meacham
What Every BODY Is Saying Audiobook By Joe Navarro, Marvin Karlins cover art
What Every BODY Is Saying By: Joe Navarro, and others
Revenge Audiobook By Michael Cohen cover art
Revenge By: Michael Cohen
All the President's Men Audiobook By Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein cover art
All the President's Men By: Bob Woodward, and others
Eisenhower in War and Peace Audiobook By Jean Edward Smith cover art
Eisenhower in War and Peace By: Jean Edward Smith
The Divider Audiobook By Peter Baker, Susan Glasser cover art
The Divider By: Peter Baker, and others
The Palace Papers Audiobook By Tina Brown cover art
The Palace Papers By: Tina Brown
Hidden Figures Audiobook By Margot Lee Shetterly cover art
Hidden Figures By: Margot Lee Shetterly
Reagan Audiobook By H. W. Brands cover art
Reagan By: H. W. Brands
Watergate Audiobook By Garrett M. Graff cover art
Watergate By: Garrett M. Graff
Most relevant  
The content does not live up to the title. I was hoping to learn a lot more about the President's relationship with Congress, but as with other books by Chuck Todd, there is a heavy dose of chronicling events that the informed reader probably already knows.

More of a chronicle than insightful about Obama.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It was ok. Not much that you don't already know. Just a rehash of the Obama presidency so far, done by Chuck Todd in that Chuck Todd style. I would say, if you're a political junkie and a Chuck Todd fan it's worth a listen.

Nothing Groundbreaking

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a very excellent written narrated story. It gives you so much background and insight on the man, the legacy, the policy and everything in between.

Excellent Background

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A very detailed and engaging book that looks at the wild ups and downs of the Obama presidency. ChuckTodd spares no detail, favorable or unfavorable, in his quest to uncover the enigma that is President Obama; Someone who held such enormously high promise, inspired such amazing hope, yet could not deliver on the reality of that hope. The book itself reads like a dramatic novel, rather than a history book, so I really think you will enjoy it!

great book for political history lovers!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This was a good history lesson from a Washington insider. Very detailed and informative. A bit of a critical slant on a presidency that was very impactful to many communities, positive or negatively mostly depending on your community. Which makes me wonder, how much of an insider was Chuck Todd and how dismissed did he feel the President was towards he and his colleagues. I would have preferred more of a balance. Can't help to thunk if he was writing this during the current presidency, what would be viewed differently. Overall the book helped me see why our country is not ever going to improve without the young new energy standing their ground

Truth be told

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Chuck Todd presents President Obama, in a very objective way, allowing the reader to understand a rather complex human being.

A grreat perpective of the Obama the presidency,

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Too full of author's prejudices. Mr. Todd believes he is writing a journalistic, even handed review of the President's performance. However, it is tainted by his now open biases.

(Note: I read most of the book before beginning the audio version. Why, you ask, would I purchase the audio version? Purchased audio first and was leant a hard copy for a flight.)

I prefer to listen to books by their authors, and this is a great narration.

Too full of author's prejudices

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If you want to know more about the way Obama manages his decisions this book will bring some light to it.

What did you like best about this story?

The amount of detail. At points probably too much but I won't take it away since for some readers is useful.

What does Chuck Todd bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Clearly he is passionate about his own story and it conveys.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The few occasions when Obama gets personal. They did not move me but showed a different side of the President.

Any additional comments?

Good summary of one of the most important moments in American History: President's Obama Presidency.

Obama Revealed...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It kept a rather erratic course often times movie from present to extreme past without any sense of structure.

It was okay

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Would you recommend The Stranger: Barack Obama in the White House to your friends? Why or why not?

Not really. It's about 3 times as long as necessary. He goes into incredible detail about basic history that anyone paying attention for the last 6 years already knows. However, when he does get to the good stuff, he clearly has a lot of interesting and useful information to impart. He was there for a lot of this stuff, and has talked to everyone else who was there when he wasn't.

It feels like he wrote it for historians or students 100+ years from now who won't be already familiar with the major news stories of the very recent past.

Also, the structure of the book is a little baffling. It's kind of chronological, and kind of organized by topic, but he can't seem to commit to either approach. He needed a ruthless editor.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

He clearly only read through it once, stumbling a few times a chapter, or mispronouncing something. I'm sure he makes a great TV interviewer, but he's clearly not a professional voice actor. Someone already familiar with his work and style might appreciate that more.

Any additional comments?

Overall worth it, but still disappointing. Then again, I'm going to finish it, so maybe my criticisms aren't all that well founded.

Does not scratch the Game Change itch.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews