President Barack Obama‘s re-election campaign tonight released a documentary on his first term in office, titled, “The Road We’ve Traveled,” which premiered in over 300 venues across the nation. The 17-minute documentary, directed by Academy Award-winning director Davis Guggenheim and narrated by Tom Hanks “gives an inside look at some of the tough calls President Obama made to get our country back on track.” President Bill Clinton, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Elizabeth Warren, David Axelrod, Austan Goolsbee are featured.
The film “cost at least $345,000 to make” and “portrays the president as a resolute figure who confronted a massive economic downturn and the aftermath of the nation’s war on terrorism with determination and a series of tough decisions,” according to the AP, which adds:
The documentary, commissioned by the Obama campaign, provides a window into how his team is trying to sell the president’s re-election bid: As a man of principle who faced daunting challenges from the moment he won election but persevered to rescue the U.S. auto industry, begin rebuilding the economy, pass health care reform and authorize the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
“As president, the tough decisions that he would make would not only determine the course of the nation, but they would reveal the character of the man,” says actor Tom Hanks, the film’s narrator.
As is increasingly typical under GOP Chairman Reince Priebus, the RNC released a juvenile poster lampooning the film.
“Time after time we would see rewards for decisions he had made,” narrator Tom Hanks says. “So when we consider this president then and now, let’s remember how far we’ve come and look forward to the work still to be done.”
CNN adds:
Despite the controversy over health care reform, the campaign’s video doesn’t shy away from presenting it as a major accomplishment. This section includes the only appearance by first lady Michelle President Obama. In explaining why the President wouldn’t back down when it looked like the Affordable Care Act would fail, she said that he was encouraged by the memory of his mother, whose death from ovarian cancer was complicated by inconsistent health insurance.
Bill Clinton describes health care as a “huge economic issue,” and narrator Hanks says of the President, “He knew he couldn’t fix the economy if he didn’t fix health care. He wanted to bring Washington together to face the tough decisions but he faced an opposition hostile to compromise.”
The section ends with the passage of President Obama’s signature health care reform law, but the ad later comes back to health care, with the message that more Americans now have coverage because of the legislation.
The most dramatic portion of the documentary deals with the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound. It features nighttime video of military helicopters and familiar images of the President and his team before and during the operation.
Here, President Obama is featured saying, “A lot of people have asked, ‘How did you feel when you first heard that it was Bin Laden and he’d been killed?’ And truth is I didn’t have time for a lot of feelings at that point because our guys were still in that compound. And it wasn’t until I knew they were across the border – they were safe, everybody was an accounted for, including the dog – that I allowed some satisfaction.”