Former US president Barack Obama has revealed the meaning behind the title of his forthcoming memoir, A Promised Land.
In a 60 Minutes interview that aired over the weekend, Obama spoke with Scott Pelley about how the title reflects his hopes for America.
“Even though we may not get there in our lifetimes, even if we experience hardships and disappointments along the way, I still have faith we can create a more perfect union — not a perfect union, but a more perfect union,” he said.
During the interview, Obama also revealed that the book includes his wife Michelle’s reaction to his decision to run for president.
“I do not want you running for president,” he quotes her as saying. “God, Barack, when is it going to be enough?”
Obama then answered Pelley’s question as to why he decided to run anyway.
“I ask myself in the book, 'How much of this is megalomania, how much of this is was vanity, how much is me trying to prove something to myself?'” Obama responded.
“Over time, [Michelle] made a conclusion: 'I shouldn't stand in the way of this.' She did so grudgingly, and the fact that I ended up winning didn't necessarily alleviate her frustrations because the toll it takes on families is real. … The fact that she put up with it and forgave me — it was an act of grace that I am grateful for, and I'm not sure I deserved it.”
Obama revealed that the book includes details of the last days of his presidency, including the note he left to Donald Trump, which said in part: “We are just temporary occupants of this office. It's up to us to leave the instruments of our democracy as least as strong as we found them.”
He also wrote that, on his last day in office, he felt as though he was leaving the presidency to someone who “diametrically opposed everything we stood for”.
In the same interview, he said that Trump should concede the presidency and put America above the interests of his own ego.
A Promised Land is released on 17 November.
