Inside Obama's White House,BBC2 - TV review: After an hour with Obama, the words President Trump sound even more chilling
Told through interviews with political heavyweights such as Obama's chief strategist David Axelrod, and House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi, it was gripping from the start
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With House of Cards series four hitting fever pitch on Netflix, Inside Obama's White House looked like a case of life imitating art. Here was President Obama offering Republicans bargaining chips, threatening staff in the Roosevelt Room to thrash out a deal– and even using a photocall at the annual White House picnic as an opportunity to pounce on Congressmen to support his energy bill. Frank Underwood would be proud.
This first of four documentaries looking back on Obama's presidency recapped a heady time when US politics felt like the Academy Awards and everyone was a Democrat. Obama the “hope-monger” rock star stormed into the White House, making history as the first African-American to do so. Beyoncé sang at his inauguration ball, women screamed after him at rallies and celebrities clamoured to take selfies with him.
But hope soon faded. Inside Obama's White House rattled along like a thriller as the documentary unravelled the various threads that meant Obama could not deliver all he had promised on the campaign trail in his first 100 days as President. As told through interviews with political heavyweights such as Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, and House of Representatives speaker, Nancy Pelosi, it was gripping from the start.
It's easy to forget that as President-elect, Obama had to deal with the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression. It hit so hard even the Republicans wanted to nationalise the banks. But throughout the documentary, Obama stood out like a towering hero. With Donald Trump teetering on the brink of a possible presidency, that's how we want to remember him for now.
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