Elections and Campaigns - Obama Presidency Oral History

“I was never the likeliest candidate for this office,” Barack Obama told the world in his victory-night speech in Chicago’s Grant Park in 2008. “Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington,” he continued, “it was built by…the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from this earth.” Obama’s address captured his remarkable political trajectory. Less than five years earlier, he had been a state senator unknown on the national stage. But he had rapidly built an innovative nationwide organizing operation and campaign apparatus that propelled him through a crowded Democratic primary field, and to his election as the country’s first African American president. The Obama Presidency Oral History provides expansive coverage of Obama’s political campaigns, and helps illuminate the causes and consequences of the major elections of the Obama years. 

Before the 2008 cycle, Obama had campaigned for elected office in Illinois five times—successfully for a seat in the State Senate in 1996, 1998, and 2002; unsuccessfully for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2000; and successfully for one of Illinois’ two seats in the United States Senate in 2004. In their oral histories, campaign strategists, advisors, mentors, and relatives discuss Obama’s evolution as a political candidate over the course of these pre-presidential races, and outline the coalitions that elected Obama to local and statewide offices in Illinois. 

Obama rocketed to national stardom following his celebrated keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and speculation about a future presidential bid dogged his career in the Senate. Though he spent his first year in Washington shunning the national media and focusing largely on issues relevant to Illinois, in 2006 Obama traveled across the country, and deliberated with a small group of trusted advisors about the possibility of running in 2008. In early 2007, Obama announced his candidacy on the steps of the state capitol in Springfield, and turned his attention to building a field operation for the Democratic primaries.

Obama entered the race as a long shot, trailing in polls by wide margins to more established Democrats including John Edwards and, especially, Hillary Clinton. The Obama campaign decided to focus its limited resources on the Iowa caucuses—the first Democratic primary—reasoning that a strong performance there would generate momentum, attract supporters and donors, and build confidence in the viability of Obama’s candidacy. Consistent with Obama’s background in community organizing, the campaign built an innovative field organizing operation in the state, leveraging new online and digital technologies to bring Iowans into the caucus process for the first time, and raising “small-dollar” donations from thousands of supporters. The Democratic candidates espoused broadly similar views on major policy issues, but Obama cast himself as an outsider—citing, for instance, his longstanding opposition to the Iraq War—capable of disrupting sclerotic Washington with a fresh approach to politics, and in January, Obama won the caucuses by nearly eight points. In their interviews, staff and advisors recount their experiences in Iowa, and speak widely about their strategy for the race.