From the desolate coal-mining hollers of West Virginia to Washington, DC's ghettos and the Mormon communities of Utah, this engrossing journalistic account travels the country with unprecedented scope to grapple with political issues and to tell the stories of the players, the hopeful true believers, the skeptics, the winners, and the losers. Following the long and fractious political process that will either deliver Barack Obama a chance to be a truly transformative president or place him alongside one-term leaders such as Jimmy Carter, this chronicle also observes the Republican Party tear itself apart to find a fitting opponent for Obama. It analyzes whether America's first black president will meet the enormous expectations of his voters and the rest of the world. With wry humor and cutting insight, this book explores an extraordinary moment in United States history and shares tales of people, identity, and culture.