Newsweek magazine and NBC/MSNBC commentator Jonathan Alter's new book on Barack Obama's first year in office is available now in your favorite book store and on the Internet. The Promise: President Obama, Year One is an insider like look at the decision making processes that Obama has performed in his first year in office.
Alter details what was going on with top military leaders during the deliberative process Obama put himself and the country through in deciding the strategic move to make in problematic Afghanistan. General Stanley McChristal had come off sounding bold, if not almost confrontational, in announcing an increase in troops. Obama was becoming boxed in, Alter writes.
We spoke with Jonathan Alter last week to advance his appearance next Tuesday, May 25, at Sarasota's Holley Hall, about that situation.
Jonathan Alter: To me the most compelling totally unknown story was that in the middle of these intense meetings on what to do about Afghanistan, there was what the White House considered to be insubordination on the part of the military. And they were jamming the President, boxing him in, and when I asked the President about it, he said, “I can neither confirm nor deny that I was jammed by the Pentagon.” Which you and I know means in our business that is a rather striking statement to make, but what’s really unusual is what he did about it.
This article appears in May 13-19, 2010.