Skip to Main Content

Power Forward

My Presidential Education

About The Book

A Washington Post bestseller, Power Forward is a compelling professional coming-of-age story from the man who spent more time with Barack Obama during his historic first presidential campaign and term than anyone else.

Reggie Love is a unique witness to history, whose introduction to Washington was working in Junior Senator Barack Obama’s mailroom. As President Obama’s personal aide during that momentous first term, Love sat yards from the Oval Office and often spent more time with the President than anyone else.

In this professional coming-of-age story like no other, Love details the unique and universal lessons learned during his tenure with the President: persistence, responsibility, passion for a cause greater than yourself. In short, maturity.

Power Forward tells how Love’s experiences growing up, from being Obama’s “body man” to playing as captain on the beloved Duke basketball team under Coach Kryzewski.

About The Author

Reggie Love was the special assistant and personal aide to President Barack Obama from 2007 to 2011. Before that, he graduated from Duke University, where he was captain of the 2004–05 Duke Blue Devils basketball team and a member of the 2001 NCAA national championship team. Love graduated from the Wharton School of Business in 2013 and now serves as partner and vice president of Transatlantic Holdings.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster (February 3, 2015)
  • Length: 224 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781476763361

Browse Related Books

Raves and Reviews

“This is a behind-the-scenes look at apolitical campaign, a presidency, and a young man’s coming-of-age as he learnsthe value of persistence and responsibility.” Booklist

“[Love] ably reflects the human dimension of the president whose former aide plainly still admires him, and [Power Forward] also suggests what a tumultuous transition it can be for an outsider to find himself immersed in Washington, D.C., without much sense of the responsibilities or expectations accompanying his new job…. [T]he mentorship he received from coach MikeKrzyzewski prepared him well for the responsibilities of being a team playerfor Obama… Though Love admits to his share of mistakes, both he and thepresident he served emerge from this memoir as admirable and likable.” — Kirkus Reviews

“[Power Forward] is kind of a political coming-of-age tale, and it's by far the most fun political memoir to come from the Obama administration. . . . Love's book is the bro-iest portrait of the president yet, but maybe also the most humanizing.” —New York

“These stories are worth telling, and this book is worth reading. . . . What Love knows is more interesting than what he thinks, and the small moments he shares can be charming and memorable. . . . Its real value is showing Obama up close, watching him react in those fleeting moments that never make headlines.” —The Washington Post

“If you still marathon ‘The West Wing,’ you’ll be into this one.” The Skimm

“[A] well-written and entertaining account.” —St. Louis Dispatch

Resources and Downloads

High Resolution Images