ABSTRACT
It didn’t take long for Barack Obama to make his mark as the biggest superstar ever to occupy the White House. Within nine months of taking office in January 2009, Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, one of the most coveted honors in the world. The decision was not based on anything the new commander in chief had done up to that point. He hadn’t been in office long enough to have had any major achievements. Instead, the Nobel judges were influenced by Obama’s charisma, rhetoric, and historic status as the first African American president, and his pledge to be a peacemaker who would bring humility and restraint to America’s international role. In other words, his celebrity made the difference.
