As you prepare to watch Barack Obama be sworn in as our 44th president, have a read through the best of our writing on his journey from Illinois to the White House.
The Audacity of Patience
Obama's savvy coalition-building broke all the rules about how to run for president. If he can take the same approach in the White House, he will be a towering success.
November 17, 2008 | By Mark Schmitt
The Most Unlikely President
Barack Obama's candidacy forced us to confront the worst of our 9/11 fears and our lingering racism.
November 5, 2008 | By Ezra Klein
One Cool Customer
Amid all the talk about John McCain's character, the press missed the most important personal story in this election: Obama's steady, mature, and thoughtful approach to politics appeals to voters.
October 21, 2008 | By Paul Waldman
It's His Party
Barack Obama might be running on a post-partisan platform, but he is more focused on building the Democratic Party than any other candidate in recent history.
August 18, 2008 | By Dana Goldstein and Ezra Klein
Obama's Racial Catch-22
For Barack Obama, countering racist attacks means acknowledging that racism is alive and well -- which poses a threat to his hope-based campaign.
August 4, 2008 | By Adam Serwer
The Soft Art
Obama's defining political skill may prove to be his ability to parry attacks and turn them to his advantage. It kept his campaign moving forward and upward when others would have found themselves unable to go on.
June 10, 2008 | By Paul Waldman
The Year of the Organizer
The Obama campaign's commitment to the principles of community organizing has proved decisive to its victories so far. It has also brought new voters to the political process who could swing the general election.
February 1, 2008 | By Kelly Candaele and Peter Dreier
The Obama 15
A guide to the 15 political operatives who run Obama's world.
January 3, 2008 | By Dylan Matthews
The Theory of Change Primary
Hope and bipartisanship are not things that Obama naively believes are present and possible -- they are a tactic, a method of subverting and breaking the unified conservative power structure.
December 21, 2007 | By Mark Schmitt
The Gentleman From Illinois
Why did thousands brave sub-zero temperatures to hear Obama's formal candidacy announcement? It's more than just hype.
February 12, 2007 | By Phoebe Connelly
Great Expectations
People expect great things of Barack Obama. His first year in the Senate -- in which he's shown a deliberative and sometimes surprising streak -- has by design been a relatively quiet one.
January 17, 2006 | By Jodi Enda
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