''The Road We've Traveled'' is a 2012 documentary film about the events of

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by a ...

. Directed by

Davis Guggenheim Philip Davis Guggenheim (born November 3, 1963) is an American writer, director and producer. His credits include ''NYPD Blue'', '' ER'', '' 24'', ''Alias'', ''The Shield'', '' Deadwood'', and the documentaries ''An Inconvenient Truth'', ''It M ...

, the documentary was produced by Obama's re-election campaign and was narrated by

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

The film

Events detailed in the film include the economic crisis,

health care reform Health care reform is for the most part governmental policy that affects health care delivery in a given place. Health care reform typically attempts to: * Broaden the population that receives health care coverage through either public sector insur ...

, the auto industry bailout, and the

Navy Seal The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting sma ...

mission that led to the

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

leader

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...

. People interviewed in the film include

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Joe Biden, Obama political aide David Axelrod, consumer advocate and former chairwoman of the Congressional Oversight Panel for TARP

Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a ...

and former

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

and current

Mayor of Chicago The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and r ...

Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States Ambassador to Japan. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 ...

Reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' noted the use of social media to reach voters instead of television advertisements. ''New York Times'' reviewer Alessandra Stanley said that some critics of the video were "inane", noting that "Presidential candidates have been starring in self-promoting campaign videos since Eisenhower". Stanley also noted that the video focuses more on the "apocalyptic" scenarios averted, saying "It's not morning yet on "The Road We've Traveled." It's the end of the darkest hour of the night." ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' referred to the film as a "masterful stroke", comparing it to a similar film made by

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

during the 1992 campaign. The reviewer wrote, "It's less of a bragging moment and more like a contractor's bid for renewal".

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

host

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; né O'Meara; born 30 March 1965) is a British broadcaster, journalist, writer, and television personality. He began his Fleet Street career in 1988 at '' The Sun''. In 1994, aged 29, he was appointed editor of the ...

, in an interview with director Davis Guggenheim, was critical of the fact that the film cast Obama in an overly positive light and did not have a more balanced analysis. Liberal commentator

Glenn Greenwald Glenn Edward Greenwald (born March 6, 1967) is an American journalist, author and lawyer. In 2014, he cofounded ''The Intercept'', of which he was an editor until he resigned in October 2020. Greenwald subsequently started publishing on Substac ...

wrote that the film, and Guggenheim's subsequent media appearance, displayed "creepy leader worship" and that Guggenheim epitomized the "pure face of the Authoritarian Mind".Greenwald, Glenn (March 9, 2012)
"The Authoritarian Mind "
''Salon''. Retrieved March 11, 2012

References

External links

Film page at BarackObama.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Road We've Traveled Films directed by Davis Guggenheim Barack Obama 2012 presidential campaign Presidency of Barack Obama 2012 films American short documentary films 2012 documentary films Documentary films about presidents of the United States 2012 short films Films about Barack Obama 2012 United States presidential election in popular culture Films scored by Christophe Beck Films scored by Jake Monaco 2010s English-language films 2010s American films