Samantha Power
Encyclopedia
Samantha Power is an Irish American
academic, governmental official and writer. She is currently a Special Assistant to President Barack Obama
and runs the Office of Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights as Senior Director of Multilateral Affairs on the Staff of the National Security Council
. She is also the Founding Executive Director and the Anna Lindh
Professor of Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy
at Harvard University
's Kennedy School of Government
Power began her career by covering the Yugoslav Wars
as a journalist, and was a winner of the Pulitzer Prize
for her book A Problem from Hell, a study of the U.S. foreign policy response to genocide. She was originally a senior adviser to Obama until March 2008 when she resigned from his presidential campaign under controversy. After rejoining the Obama State Department transition team in late November 2008, she was named to her position in the new administration. Power is considered to be perhaps the key figure within the Obama administration in persuading the president to intervene militarily in Libya
.
and emigrated
to the United States
in 1979. She attended Lakeside High School
in Atlanta, Georgia
, where she was a member of the cross country team and the basketball team. She later graduated from Yale University
.
From 1993 to 1996, she worked as a journalist, covering the Yugoslav wars
for U.S. News & World Report
, The Boston Globe
, The Economist
, and The New Republic
.
When she returned to the United States, she attended Harvard Law School
, graduating in 1999. Her first book, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, grew out of a paper she wrote in law school. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction
and the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize
in 2003. It offers a survey of the origin of the word genocide, the major genocides of the 20th century, as well as an analysis of some of the underlying reasons for the persistent failure of governments and the international community to collectively identify, recognize and then respond effectively to genocides ranging from the Armenian Genocide
to the Rwandan Genocide
. This work and related writings have been criticized by the historian Howard Zinn
for downplaying the importance of "unintended" and "collateral" civilian deaths that could be classified as genocidal; and by Edward S. Herman
and Joseph Nevins
A scholar of foreign policy especially as it relates to human rights
, genocide
, and AIDS
, she is currently the Anna Lindh
Professor of Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government
.
In 2004, Power was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 top scientists and thinkers of that year. In fall 2007, she began writing a regular column for Time. Power appears in Charles Ferguson
's 2007 documentary, No End in Sight
, which alleges numerous missteps by the Bush administration in the U.S. war in Iraq.
The character of Nadia Blye in The Vertical Hour
, a play by David Hare, shares key surface similarities with Ms. Power.
Power spent 2005–06 working in the office of U.S. Senator Barack Obama
as a foreign policy fellow, where she was credited with sparking and directing Obama's interest in the Darfur conflict
. She served as a senior foreign policy adviser to Obama's 2008 presidential campaign until she was forced to resign for referring to Hillary Clinton as "a monster". Power apologized for the remarks made in an interview with The Scotsman
in London, and resigned from the campaign shortly thereafter.
Her second book, Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World was released on February 14, 2008. It concerns Sergio Vieira de Mello
, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and United Nations
Special Representative in Iraq
who was killed in the Canal Hotel bombing
in Baghdad
along with Jean-Sélim Kanaan
, Nadia Younes
, Fiona Watson
, and other members of his staff, on the afternoon of August 19, 2003. The book was the basis for the documentary film Sergio, directed by Greg Barker
and edited by Karen Schmeer
.
, whom she met while working on the Obama campaign.
On April 24, 2009, she gave birth to their first child, Declan Power-Sunstein.
. In 2006, she contributed to Screamers
, a movie about the Darfur, Armenian
, and other genocides of the 20th and 21st centuries. Power has become a leading voice calling for armed intervention into humanitarian crisis situations.
Power has been accused by a number of conservative publications, such as FrontPage Magazine, of being hostile towards the state of Israel
. In an interview with Haaretz
, Power explained her views and past statements on Israel and insisted that she takes threats to Israel's security (such as the potential nuclearization of Iran) very seriously.
described her as a "Harvard brainiac who can boast both a Pulitzer Prize
and a mean jump shot
(ask George Clooney
). Now the consummate outsider is working on her inside game: D.C. politics."
In August 2007 Power authored a memo
titled "Conventional Washington versus the Change We Need," in which she provided one of the first comprehensive statements of Obama's approach to foreign policy. In the memo she writes: "Barack Obama's judgment is right; the conventional wisdom
is wrong. We need a new era of tough, principled and engaged American diplomacy to deal with 21st century challenges."
In February and March 2008, Power began an international book tour to promote her book, Chasing the Flame. Because of her involvement in the Obama campaign, many of the interviews she gave revolved around her and Barack Obama's foreign-policy views, as well as the 2008 campaign.
On February 21, Power appeared on Charlie Rose
and compared Barack Obama to Sergio Vieira de Mello
, who is the subject of Chasing the Flame. "This would be Sergio's lesson: if you are not thinking in terms of both dignity and freedom from fear, and this is the other thing Obama has come back to, the old Rooseveltian idea. Obama has tried to run a campaign that moves us out of the politics of fear. He is also very sensitive to the degree to which, and Sergio uses this line, 'fear is a bad adviser.' This is a line that could have come out of Obama's mouth, though happened to come out of Sergio's mouth. We make bad judgments when we are afraid."
Power appeared on BBC
's HARDtalk
on March 6, stating that Barack Obama's pledge to "have all U.S. combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months" was a "best case scenario" that "he will revisit when he becomes president." Challenged by the host as to whether this contradicted Obama's campaign commitment, she responded, "You can’t make a commitment in March 2008 about what circumstances will be like in January 2009.... He will, of course, not rely on some plan that he’s crafted as a presidential candidate or a U.S. Senator. He will rely upon a plan — an operational plan — that he pulls together in consultation with people who are on the ground to whom he doesn’t have daily access now, as a result of not being the president." She concluded by saying that "what we can take seriously is that he will try to get U.S. forces out of Iraq as quickly and responsibly as possible."
In a March 6 interview with The Scotsman
, she said: "We fucked up in Ohio. In Ohio, they are obsessed and Hillary is going to town on it, because she knows Ohio's the only place they can win". "She is a monster, too — that is off the record — she is stooping to anything... if you are poor and she is telling you some story about how Obama is going to take your job away, maybe it will be more effective. The amount of deceit she has put forward is really unattractive."
Power apologized for the remark on the night of the March 6 interview, saying that they "do not reflect my feelings about Sen. Clinton, whose leadership and public service I have long admired." The next day, in the wake of reaction to the remarks, she resigned from the Obama campaign.
Soon afterward, the Weekly Standard said that it "might have been the most ill-starred book tour since the invention of movable type
."
Following her resignation, she also appeared on The Colbert Report on March 17, 2008, saying, "can I just clarify and say, I don't think Hillary Clinton is a monster...we have three amazing candidates left in the race." When Power later joined the State Department transition team, an official close to the transition said Power had apologized and that her "gesture to bury the hatchet" with Clinton had been well-received. Power attended Clinton's swearing-in ceremony on February 2.
, Power returned to Obama's team, becoming a member of the transition team
, working for the Department of State.
In January 2009 President Obama appointed Power to the National Security Council
Staff, where she serves as a Special Assistant to the President and runs the Office of Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights.
. Power argues that America has a moral obligation to intervene, if necessarily militarily, in order to prevent genocides. Within the White House, Power strongly pressed for U.S. intervention on humanitarian grounds. She has been described as instrumental in convincing Obama to push for a UN Security Council resolution to authorize a coalition military force to protect Libyan civilians. Power has previously argued that "you don't get any extra credit for doing the right thing". "It's up to us" to change that calculus, she said. "My prescription," she said, "would be that the level of American and international engagement would ratchet up commensurate with the abuse on the ground."
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
academic, governmental official and writer. She is currently a Special Assistant to President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
and runs the Office of Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights as Senior Director of Multilateral Affairs on the Staff of the National Security Council
United States National Security Council
The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...
. She is also the Founding Executive Director and the Anna Lindh
Anna Lindh
Ylva Anna Maria Lindh was a Swedish Social Democratic politician, Chairman of the Social Democratic Youth League 1984-1990, Member of Parliament 1982-1985 and 1998-2003...
Professor of Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy
Carr Center for Human Rights Policy
The Carr Center for Human Rights Policy is research center concerned with human rights, and is located at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University....
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
's Kennedy School of Government
Power began her career by covering the Yugoslav Wars
Yugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...
as a journalist, and was a winner of the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for her book A Problem from Hell, a study of the U.S. foreign policy response to genocide. She was originally a senior adviser to Obama until March 2008 when she resigned from his presidential campaign under controversy. After rejoining the Obama State Department transition team in late November 2008, she was named to her position in the new administration. Power is considered to be perhaps the key figure within the Obama administration in persuading the president to intervene militarily in Libya
2011 military intervention in Libya
On 19 March 2011, a multi-state coalition began a military intervention in Libya to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, which was taken in response to events during the 2011 Libyan civil war...
.
Biography
Power was born in Dublin, IrelandRepublic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
and emigrated
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1979. She attended Lakeside High School
Lakeside High School (DeKalb County, Georgia)
Lakeside High School is a public high school in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia. The school has an Atlanta address . The school is a part of the DeKalb County School System. The current principal is Joe Reed....
in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, where she was a member of the cross country team and the basketball team. She later graduated from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
.
From 1993 to 1996, she worked as a journalist, covering the Yugoslav wars
Yugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...
for U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
, The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
, The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
, and The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
.
When she returned to the United States, she attended Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, graduating in 1999. Her first book, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, grew out of a paper she wrote in law school. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction
Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction has been awarded since 1962 for a distinguished book of non-fiction by an American author that is not eligible for consideration in another category.-1960s:...
and the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize
J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize
The J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize is an annual award in the amount of $10,000 given to a book that exemplifies, "literary grace, a commitment to serious research and social concern.” The prize is given by the Nieman Foundation and by the Columbia University School of Journalism. The prize is named...
in 2003. It offers a survey of the origin of the word genocide, the major genocides of the 20th century, as well as an analysis of some of the underlying reasons for the persistent failure of governments and the international community to collectively identify, recognize and then respond effectively to genocides ranging from the Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
to the Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
. This work and related writings have been criticized by the historian Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn was an American historian, academic, author, playwright, and social activist. Before and during his tenure as a political science professor at Boston University from 1964-88 he wrote more than 20 books, which included his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United...
for downplaying the importance of "unintended" and "collateral" civilian deaths that could be classified as genocidal; and by Edward S. Herman
Edward S. Herman
Edward S. Herman is an American economist and media analyst with a specialty in corporate and regulatory issues as well as political economy and the media. He is Professor Emeritus of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He also teaches at Annenberg School for...
and Joseph Nevins
Joseph Nevins
Joseph Nevins is an American author, activist and Associate Professor of Geography at Vassar College in New York.- Background :Joseph Nevins studies territorial and social boundaries, imperialism and other forms of political violence, and matters of human rights, international law and social...
A scholar of foreign policy especially as it relates to human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
, and AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, she is currently the Anna Lindh
Anna Lindh
Ylva Anna Maria Lindh was a Swedish Social Democratic politician, Chairman of the Social Democratic Youth League 1984-1990, Member of Parliament 1982-1985 and 1998-2003...
Professor of Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools...
.
In 2004, Power was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 top scientists and thinkers of that year. In fall 2007, she began writing a regular column for Time. Power appears in Charles Ferguson
Charles H. Ferguson
Charles Henry Ferguson is the founder and president of Representational Pictures, Inc., director and producer of No End In Sight: The American Occupation of Iraq and Inside Job , which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary...
's 2007 documentary, No End in Sight
No End in Sight
No End in Sight is a 2007 documentary film about the American occupation of Iraq. The film marks the directorial debut of Academy Award winning documentary film producer Charles H. Ferguson. The film premiered January 22, 2007 at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. The film opened in limited release...
, which alleges numerous missteps by the Bush administration in the U.S. war in Iraq.
The character of Nadia Blye in The Vertical Hour
The Vertical Hour
The Vertical Hour is a play by David Hare. The play addresses the relationship of characters with opposing views on the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and also explores psychological tension between public lives and private lives. The play received its world premiere at the Music Box Theater on Broadway,...
, a play by David Hare, shares key surface similarities with Ms. Power.
Power spent 2005–06 working in the office of U.S. Senator Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
as a foreign policy fellow, where she was credited with sparking and directing Obama's interest in the Darfur conflict
Darfur conflict
The Darfur Conflict was a guerrilla conflict or civil war centered on the Darfur region of Sudan. It began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and Justice and Equality Movement groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese in...
. She served as a senior foreign policy adviser to Obama's 2008 presidential campaign until she was forced to resign for referring to Hillary Clinton as "a monster". Power apologized for the remarks made in an interview with The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
in London, and resigned from the campaign shortly thereafter.
Her second book, Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World was released on February 14, 2008. It concerns Sergio Vieira de Mello
Sérgio Vieira de Mello
Sérgio Vieira de Mello was a Brazilian United Nations employee who worked for the UN for more than 34 years, earning respect and praise around the world for his efforts in the humanitarian and political programs of the UN...
, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Special Representative in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
who was killed in the Canal Hotel bombing
Canal Hotel Bombing
The Canal Hotel Bombing in Baghdad, Iraq, in the afternoon of August 19, 2003, killed at least 22 people, including the United Nations' Special Representative in Iraq Sérgio Vieira de Mello, and wounded over 100. The blast targeted the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq created just 5 days...
in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
along with Jean-Sélim Kanaan
Jean-Sélim Kanaan
Jean-Sélim Kanaan was a United Nations diplomat, Egyptian, Italian and French national, who was killed in the Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad, Iraq, along with Sérgio Vieira de Mello and other members of his staff...
, Nadia Younes
Nadia Younes
Nadia Younes was an Egyptian national who spent her entire career, for over 33 years, in the United Nations and the World Health Organization, rising to high-level posts in a variety of areas....
, Fiona Watson
Fiona Watson
Fiona Watson was a Scottish political affairs officer working in Vieira de Mello's office who was killed along with other members of UN staff in the Canal Hotel bombing in Iraq, on the afternoon of 19 August 2003....
, and other members of his staff, on the afternoon of August 19, 2003. The book was the basis for the documentary film Sergio, directed by Greg Barker
Greg Barker
Greg Barker is director and producer of the documentary feature Sergio, which was shortlisted for a 2010 Academy Award. LA Times critic Kenneth Turan described Sergio as “a documentary of exceptional power,” and Variety said “Barker turns his biopic into a thriller...and creates riveting cinema.”A...
and edited by Karen Schmeer
Karen Schmeer
Karen Schmeer was a film editor who frequently collaborated with filmmaker Errol Morris.-Early life:...
.
Personal life
On July 4, 2008, Power married law professor Cass SunsteinCass Sunstein
Cass R. Sunstein is an American legal scholar, particularly in the fields of constitutional law, administrative law, environmental law, and law and behavioral economics, who currently is the Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Obama administration...
, whom she met while working on the Obama campaign.
On April 24, 2009, she gave birth to their first child, Declan Power-Sunstein.
Views
Alongside her advocacy for Barack Obama's candidacy, Power is best known for her efforts to increase public awareness of genocide and human rights abuses, particularly in the Darfur conflictWar in Darfur
The Darfur Conflict was a guerrilla conflict or civil war centered on the Darfur region of Sudan. It began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and Justice and Equality Movement groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese in...
. In 2006, she contributed to Screamers
Screamers (2006 film)
Screamers is a 2006 documentary by director Carla Garapedian. The film explores why genocides have recurred into the modern day, and involves the band System of a Down, Serj Tankian's grandfather , the human-rights activist, journalist, and Professor Samantha Power, and various people involved...
, a movie about the Darfur, Armenian
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
, and other genocides of the 20th and 21st centuries. Power has become a leading voice calling for armed intervention into humanitarian crisis situations.
Power has been accused by a number of conservative publications, such as FrontPage Magazine, of being hostile towards the state of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. In an interview with Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
, Power explained her views and past statements on Israel and insisted that she takes threats to Israel's security (such as the potential nuclearization of Iran) very seriously.
2008 presidential campaign
Power was an early and outspoken supporter of Barack Obama. When she joined the Obama campaign as a foreign policy advisor, Men's VogueMen's Vogue
Men's Vogue was a monthly men's magazine that covered fashion, design, art, culture, sports and technology. On October 30, 2008 Condé Nast announced that they intended to fold the magazine into Vogue proper as a bi-annual subscriber's supplement...
described her as a "Harvard brainiac who can boast both a Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
and a mean jump shot
Jump shot
In basketball , a jump shot is an attempt to score a basket by jumping, usually straight up, and in mid-jump, propelling the ball in an arc into the basket. It is accomplished by the player bringing his or her elbow up until it is aligned with the hoop, then sent towards the hoop in a high arc. It...
(ask George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
). Now the consummate outsider is working on her inside game: D.C. politics."
In August 2007 Power authored a memo
Memo
Memo may refer to:* Most commonly Memorandum.* Bench memorandum, law* Memorandum Recordings - record company* Mêmo* MEMO - specialization in electrical engineering that studies Microwaves, Electromagnetism and Optoelectronic...
titled "Conventional Washington versus the Change We Need," in which she provided one of the first comprehensive statements of Obama's approach to foreign policy. In the memo she writes: "Barack Obama's judgment is right; the conventional wisdom
Conventional wisdom
Conventional wisdom is a term used to describe ideas or explanations that are generally accepted as true by the public or by experts in a field. Such ideas or explanations, though widely held, are unexamined. Unqualified societal discourse preserves the status quo. It codifies existing social...
is wrong. We need a new era of tough, principled and engaged American diplomacy to deal with 21st century challenges."
In February and March 2008, Power began an international book tour to promote her book, Chasing the Flame. Because of her involvement in the Obama campaign, many of the interviews she gave revolved around her and Barack Obama's foreign-policy views, as well as the 2008 campaign.
On February 21, Power appeared on Charlie Rose
Charlie Rose
Charles Peete "Charlie" Rose, Jr. is an American television talk show host and journalist. Since 1991 he has hosted Charlie Rose, an interview show distributed nationally by PBS since 1993...
and compared Barack Obama to Sergio Vieira de Mello
Sérgio Vieira de Mello
Sérgio Vieira de Mello was a Brazilian United Nations employee who worked for the UN for more than 34 years, earning respect and praise around the world for his efforts in the humanitarian and political programs of the UN...
, who is the subject of Chasing the Flame. "This would be Sergio's lesson: if you are not thinking in terms of both dignity and freedom from fear, and this is the other thing Obama has come back to, the old Rooseveltian idea. Obama has tried to run a campaign that moves us out of the politics of fear. He is also very sensitive to the degree to which, and Sergio uses this line, 'fear is a bad adviser.' This is a line that could have come out of Obama's mouth, though happened to come out of Sergio's mouth. We make bad judgments when we are afraid."
Power appeared on BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's HARDtalk
HARDtalk
Hardtalk is a flagship BBC television programme, consisting of in-depth half-hour one-on-one interviews.It is broadcast four days a week on BBC World News and the BBC News channel. Launched in 1997, much of its worldwide fame is due to its global reach via BBC World...
on March 6, stating that Barack Obama's pledge to "have all U.S. combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months" was a "best case scenario" that "he will revisit when he becomes president." Challenged by the host as to whether this contradicted Obama's campaign commitment, she responded, "You can’t make a commitment in March 2008 about what circumstances will be like in January 2009.... He will, of course, not rely on some plan that he’s crafted as a presidential candidate or a U.S. Senator. He will rely upon a plan — an operational plan — that he pulls together in consultation with people who are on the ground to whom he doesn’t have daily access now, as a result of not being the president." She concluded by saying that "what we can take seriously is that he will try to get U.S. forces out of Iraq as quickly and responsibly as possible."
In a March 6 interview with The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
, she said: "We fucked up in Ohio. In Ohio, they are obsessed and Hillary is going to town on it, because she knows Ohio's the only place they can win". "She is a monster, too — that is off the record — she is stooping to anything... if you are poor and she is telling you some story about how Obama is going to take your job away, maybe it will be more effective. The amount of deceit she has put forward is really unattractive."
Power apologized for the remark on the night of the March 6 interview, saying that they "do not reflect my feelings about Sen. Clinton, whose leadership and public service I have long admired." The next day, in the wake of reaction to the remarks, she resigned from the Obama campaign.
Soon afterward, the Weekly Standard said that it "might have been the most ill-starred book tour since the invention of movable type
Movable type
Movable type is the system of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document ....
."
Following her resignation, she also appeared on The Colbert Report on March 17, 2008, saying, "can I just clarify and say, I don't think Hillary Clinton is a monster...we have three amazing candidates left in the race." When Power later joined the State Department transition team, an official close to the transition said Power had apologized and that her "gesture to bury the hatchet" with Clinton had been well-received. Power attended Clinton's swearing-in ceremony on February 2.
Obama administration
After the 2008 presidential electionUnited States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
, Power returned to Obama's team, becoming a member of the transition team
Presidential transition of Barack Obama
The presidential transition of Barack Obama began when he won the United States presidential election on November 4, 2008, and became the President-Elect. He was formally elected by the Electoral College on December 15, 2008...
, working for the Department of State.
In January 2009 President Obama appointed Power to the National Security Council
United States National Security Council
The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...
Staff, where she serves as a Special Assistant to the President and runs the Office of Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights.
Advocate for military-intervention in Libya
Samantha Power is considered to be the key figure within the Obama administration in persuading the president to intervene militarily in Libya2011 military intervention in Libya
On 19 March 2011, a multi-state coalition began a military intervention in Libya to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, which was taken in response to events during the 2011 Libyan civil war...
. Power argues that America has a moral obligation to intervene, if necessarily militarily, in order to prevent genocides. Within the White House, Power strongly pressed for U.S. intervention on humanitarian grounds. She has been described as instrumental in convincing Obama to push for a UN Security Council resolution to authorize a coalition military force to protect Libyan civilians. Power has previously argued that "you don't get any extra credit for doing the right thing". "It's up to us" to change that calculus, she said. "My prescription," she said, "would be that the level of American and international engagement would ratchet up commensurate with the abuse on the ground."
Books
- Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World (2008) ISBN 1-59420-128-5
- A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide (2003) ISBN 0-06-054164-4
- Realizing Human Rights : Moving from Inspiration to Impact (coeditor, 2000) ISBN 0-312-23494-5
Articles
- "The Enforcer: A Christian Lawyer's Global Crusade," The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, January 19, 2009 - "Rethinking Iran," Time Magazine, January 17, 2008.
- "Access Denied," Time Magazine, September 27, 2007.
- "The Void: Why the Movement Needs Help," New Republic, May 15, 2006.
- "Punishing Evildoers," Washington Post, April 23, 2006.
- Abramowitz, Morton, and Power, Samantha. "Democrats: Get Loud, Get Angry!" Los Angeles Times, April 10, 2006.
- "Missions," New Yorker, November 28, 2005.
- "Talk of the Town: Boltonism," New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, March 21, 2005. - "A Reporter at Large: Dying in Darfur," New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, August 30, 2004. - "How To Kill A Country," Atlantic Monthly, December, 2003.
- "Bystanders to Genocide," Atlantic Monthly, September, 2001.
- Power archive from The New York Review of BooksThe New York Review of BooksThe New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs. Published in New York City, it takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity...
- Human Rights and Imperialism David Rieff Interview
External links
- Bio, from Harvard's Carr Center for Human Rights Policy
- Power's profile at Harvard
- Samantha Power: Biography | PBSPublic Broadcasting ServiceThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
- A League Of Her Own- Profile story from Men's VogueMen's VogueMen's Vogue was a monthly men's magazine that covered fashion, design, art, culture, sports and technology. On October 30, 2008 Condé Nast announced that they intended to fold the magazine into Vogue proper as a bi-annual subscriber's supplement...
- Fun Couple of the 21st Century - Profile story from EsquireEsquire (magazine)Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
on Power and Cass Sunstein - Samantha Power in conversation with Azar Nafisi at LIVE from the New York Public Library, February 21, 2008
- Interview on Sudan for guernicamag.com
- Interview at Institute of International Studies, University of California, Berkeley
- Interview at IdentityTheory.com
- Interview with Harry Kreisler on Conversations with History about "Genocide and U.S. Foreign Policy
- Speech (Video) "Can Genocide Be Stopped in an Age of Terror?" Keynote address for the Witnessing Genocide Symposium, University of OregonUniversity of Oregon-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
, April 28, 2007 - Interview with The ScotsmanThe ScotsmanThe Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
, that led to Ms. Power's resignation from the Obama campaign and apology. - Interview in 021380213802138 was an independent magazine founded by Bom Kim and purchased by David Bradley; it featured graduates of Harvard University. The publication was, however, not actually affiliated with Harvard. The title is a reference to the ZIP code of Harvard University's main campus in Harvard Square,...
on Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World, the purpose of the United Nations and Barack Obama - Interview about Chasing the Flame on Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
with Amy GoodmanAmy GoodmanAmy Goodman is an American progressive broadcast journalist, syndicated columnist, investigative reporter and author. Goodman is the host of Democracy Now!, an independent global news program broadcast daily on radio, television and the internet.-Early life:Goodman was born in Bay Shore, New York...
, February 22, 2008 (video, audio, and print transcript) - "Debate on U.S. Actions in the Balkans, the Independence of Kosovo, the Iraq Sanctions and Humanitarian Intervention": Samantha Power vs. Jeremy ScahillJeremy ScahillJeremy Scahill is an American investigative journalist and author whose work focuses on the use of private military companies. He is the author of the best-selling book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, winner of a George Polk Book Award. He also serves as a...
on Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
, February 22, 2008 (video, audio, and print transcript) - Interview for New StatesmanNew StatesmanNew Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
on 6 March 2008. - Review of Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira De Mello and the Fight to Save the World by Sara Arrow in The Current, a Columbia University journal
- Facing History and Ourselves: Facing History and Ourselves