What is it about Reinhold Niebuhr that makes him a thinker of "promise" for President Obama? The president's appreciation of Niebuhr may go back to his earlier days as a community organizer on Chicago's south side. Saul Alinsky, the inspiration and interpreter of the community organization movement, regarded Niebuhr as one of his mentors and may have led the president to Niebuhr's works.1 My speculations on an Obama-Niebuhr connection are based not only on learning from Alinsky's Reveille for Radicals…
Gabriel FackreJune 1, 2010