Samantha Power

Harvard Book Store welcomes SAMANTHA POWER—Harvard professor, Pulitzer Prize–winning author, and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations—for a discussion of her new memoir, The Education of an Idealist. She will be joined in conversation by CNN senior political analyst DAVID GERGEN. This event is co-sponsored by Mass Humanities.

About The Education of an Idealist

What can one person do? At a time of upheaval and division, Samantha Power offers an urgent response to this question—and a call for a clearer eye, a kinder heart, and a more open and civil hand in our politics and daily lives.

The Education of an Idealist brings a unique blend of suspenseful storytelling, vivid character portraits, and shrewd political insight. It traces Power’s distinctly American journey from immigrant to war correspondent to presidential Cabinet official. In 2005, her critiques of US foreign policy caught the eye of newly elected senator Barack Obama, who invited her to work with him on Capitol Hill and then on his presidential campaign.

After Obama was elected president, Power went from being an activist outsider to a government insider, navigating the halls of power while trying to put her ideals into practice. She served for four years as Obama’s human rights adviser, and in 2013, he named her US Ambassador to the United Nations, the youngest American to assume the role.

A Pulitzer Prize–winning writer, Power transports us from her childhood in Dublin to the streets of war-torn Bosnia to the White House Situation Room and the world of high-stakes diplomacy. Humorous and deeply honest, The Education of an Idealist lays bare the searing battles and defining moments of her life and shows how she juggled the demands of a 24/7 national security job with the challenge of raising two young children. Along the way, she illuminates the intricacies of politics and geopolitics, reminding us how the United States can lead in the world, and why we each have the opportunity to advance the cause of human dignity.

Power’s memoir is an unforgettable account of the power of idealism—and of one person’s fierce determination to make a difference.

Praise for The Education of an Idealist

“Samantha Power’s captivating memoir is a rare and intimate revelation of the inner workings of international diplomacy as well as a heartening beacon of a book for young women and men everywhere. Its stories of dignity, kindness, empathy, and inclusiveness are needed today as never before.” —Doris Kearns Goodwin, presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize–winning author

“Problem solving in a complex world can challenge idealism. Samantha Power’s compelling memoir provides critically important insights we should all understand as we face some of the most vexing issues of our time.” —Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of Just Mercy

“Samantha Power’s memoir gives a candid, self-questioning, intensely personal view of what goes on inside. It should inspire others to test their ideals against the unforgiving world.”
—George Packer, author of The Unwinding and Our Man