THE STRANGER

Chuck Todd's gripping, fly-on-the-wall account of Barack Obama's tumultuous struggle to succeed in Washington.

Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008 partly because he was a Washington outsider. But if he'd come to the White House thinking he could change the political culture, he soon discovered just how difficult it was to swim against an upstream of insiders, partisans, and old guard networks allied to undermine his agenda---including members of his own party. He would pass some of the most significant legislation in American history, but his own weaknesses torpedoed some of his greatest hopes.

In THE STRANGER, Chuck Todd, NBC News Political Director and moderator of Meet the Press, draws upon his unprecedented inner circle sources to create a gripping account of Obama's White House years. In doing so, not only does he give us the most revealing portrait of this fascinating president and his struggles, but illuminates what "Obamism" really is, what the president stands for and how his decisions have changed-and will change-American politics for generations.

And, here are just some of the details that Todd discusses in the book:

--How Joe Biden became a secret ally to the left in meetings of advisors and to Obama, even serving as a messenger between Obama and Hillary Clinton
--Behind the scenes as Obama and former President Clinton crash the White House briefing room to talk economy as Christmas parties are underway
--Behind the speech writing of the correspondents' dinner as the White House is deep within bin Laden raid planning
--Obama as a manager of 4 million people when he's never even fired someone before, and how that influenced his handling of personnel issues
--the few times Obama is known to have yelled
--how this presidency has been one of the least scandalous, but also stymied at many a turn
--behind Benghazi, Syria, DADT, health care, and more
--how Obama is a masterful political operator, but only when he wants to be --how he is the first in the rest of history of constantly campaigning presidents who will never spend less than $1 billion to get elected, again.

Chuck Todd is NBC News Political Director and the moderator of Meet the Press" the flagship Sunday morning public affairs program and longest-running broadcast in television history. Prior to taking the helm of Meet the Press in September 2014, Todd served as NBC News Chief White House Correspondent (2008-2014) as well as host of MSNBC's The Daily Rundown (2010-2014). Todd has held the role of Political Director since March 2007, leading all aspects of the news division's political coverage and analysis across every platform. He is also the editor of First Read, NBC's must-read guide to political news and trends in and around Washington, D.C.