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Richard Wolffe: Struggle for Survival Inside the Obama White House

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Date and time
Friday, January 14, 2011

(Jan. 2011) **Richard Wolffe**, VP and Executive Editor of MSNBC, drew on his unrivaled access to the West Wing to write the political biography *Revival: The Struggle for Survival Inside the Obama White House,* a natural sequel to his earlier campaign biography. Starting at the first anniversary of the inauguration, Wolffe paints a portrait of a White House at work under exceptional strain across a sweeping set of challenges: from health care reform to a struggling economy, from two wars to terrorism. *Revival* is a road map to understanding the dynamics, characters, and disputes that shape the Obama White House. It reveals for the first time the fault lines at the heart of the West Wing between two groups competing for control of the president's agenda. On one side are the Revivalists, who want to return to the high-minded spirit of the presidential campaign. On the other side are the Survivalists, who believe that government demands a low-minded set of compromises and combat. At the center of this story is a man who remains opaque to supporters, staff, and critics alike. What motivates him to risk his presidency on health care? What frustrations does he feel at this incredible time of testing?

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Richard Wolffe is a columnist for *The Daily Beast*, a senior strategist at Public Strategies, and a political analyst for MSNBC. He covered Barack Obama’s presidential campaign for *Newsweek*. Before joining *Newsweek* in 2002 as diplomatic correspondent, he was the United States diplomatic correspondent in Washington, D.C. for *The Financial Times*. He is the author of *Renegade: The Making of a President*.