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By Root 1015 0

Stevenson gave me the opportunity to write at length about Barack Obama, starting in the spring of 2007, not long after he declared his candidacy, and continuing for a year. Rebecca Corbett, who edited those articles, did not flinch when I proposed a detour to consider the candidate’s mom. On the basis of that article, Sarah McGrath at Riverhead Books proposed a book on Ann, and Riverhead gave me the time and the means to research her life in depth. Sarah proved to be as incisive and supportive an editor as one could possibly hope. I am grateful to Geoff Kloske at Riverhead, and to Sarah Stein. Scott Moyers of the Wylie Agency inspired utter confidence that nothing could go awry. Arthur Gelb, the former managing editor of The New York Times, encouraged the project from its very beginning.

Mia and Owen Ritter, who have taught me much of what little I understand about being a mother, tolerated my absences, took an interest in my work, and provided joy and comic relief. As for Joe Lelyveld, to whom I am indebted in too many ways to count, I will say here simply that he gave me unfailingly wise advice, perfectly grilled sardines, great happiness, and best of all, himself.

Notes

Works cited in brief in the Notes are cited in full in the Bibliography.

PROLOGUE

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6 modernized the spelling: The spelling of certain Indonesian words changed after Indonesia gained its independence from the Dutch in 1949, and again under a 1972 agreement between Indonesia and Malaysia. Dj, as in Djakarta, was replaced with J, as in Jakarta. The letter J, as in Jogjakarta, became Y, as in Yogyakarta. Names containing oe, such as Soeharto, are now often spelled with a u, as in Suharto. However, older spellings are still used in some personal names. Both “Soeharto” and “Suharto” are used for the name of the former president of Indonesia. After her divorce from Lolo Soetoro, Ann Dunham Soetoro kept his last name for a number of years while she was still working in Indonesia, but she changed the spelling to Sutoro. Their daughter, Maya Soetoro-Ng, chose to keep the traditional spelling of her Indonesian surname.

7 “the single constant”: Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father, xii.

7 put those values to work: Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope, 205–206.

8 “I gave you an interesting life”: Interview with President Obama, July 21, 2010.

CHAPTER ONE. DREAMS FROM THE PRAIRIE

For the history of Kansas, I am indebted to Craig Miner, a professor of history at Wichita State University, and to his book, Kansas: The History of the Sunflower State, 1854–2000. For the history of Butler County, I received invaluable help from Lisa Cooley, the curator of education at the Butler County History Center and Kansas Oil Museum in El Dorado, and from Jay M. Price, an associate professor of history at Wichita State University and the author of El Dorado: Legacy of an Oil Boom. I benefited by reading Augusta, Kansas 1868–1990, by Burl Allison Jr., in the Augusta public library, and an unpublished paper, “The Klan in Butler County,” by Roxie Olmstead, on file in the Butler County History Center library. Kim Baker, a researcher based in Topeka, combed newspaper archives and public records for the history of the Dunham and Payne families. Most of what I have written about the early lives of Stanley Dunham and Madelyn Payne came from long interviews with his brother, Ralph Dunham, and her siblings, Charles, Arlene, and Jon Payne. A cousin of the Paynes, Margaret McCurry Wolf, also helped me with family history. Clarence Kerns, Mack Gilkeson, and Virginia Ewalt, contemporaries of Stanley Dunham and Madelyn Payne, helped me understand the place and time in which they grew up. Ian Dunham, the grandson of Ralph Dunham, gave me valuable guidance.

17 grasshoppers blanketed the ground: Burl Allison Jr., Augusta, Kansas 1868–1990 (Hillsboro, KS: Multi Business Press, 1993).

18 planted with kaffir corn: Jay M. Price, El Dorado: Legacy of an Oil Boom.

26 “dabbling in moonshine, cards, and women”: Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father, 14.

30 campaign weakened