Renowned historian and Pulitzer Prize winner David Garrow engaged in a series of extensive conversations with Barack Obama spanning eight hours over three days while crafting his 2017 book, “Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama.”
Though the book might have been overshadowed by the fervor surrounding the Trump administration, Garrow’s recent interview with Tablet has generated significant interest.
Q: How did you manage to acquire the love letters exchanged between Obama and his college and law school girlfriends, and what was the most unexpected discovery within them?
A: In the case of Alex [McNear, Obama’s girlfriend at Occidental College], I believe she wanted her role to be recognized. Alex shared the letters from Barack with me, and in one of these letters, she redacted a particular paragraph, merely stating, “It pertains to homosexuality.”
Subsequently, around the time “Rising Star” was released, Alex indirectly sold the original letters. These letters eventually found their way to Emory University.
Emory then issued a press release announcing, “We have obtained these rare Barack Obama letters,” without any mention of the sensitive paragraph. This aspect was not covered in any news articles, nor was it acknowledged by Emory.
I reached out to an old acquaintance, Harvey Klehr. Harvey had been involved since 1980 when I was investigating the source of the information about Stanley Levison, a close advisor to Dr. King, and his association with communism. I wanted to know how the FBI became aware of Stan’s involvement.
Q: An association with communism.
A: Yes. I contacted Harvey and asked him to visit the Emory archives.
Harvey has spent a significant portion of his life at Emory, but their policy restricts him from taking photographs. Consequently, he had to manually transcribe the paragraph in which Barack writes to Alex about his recurring fantasies involving romantic interactions with men.
Now, turning to Genevieve [Cook, Obama’s girlfriend in New York], she is an unreserved and free-spirited individual.
I traveled to Australia to meet her. She had undergone a—let me choose my words carefully—a tumultuous subsequent relationship in Australia, which led her to adopt a very discreet lifestyle.
We traveled to the Mornington Peninsula located to the south of Melbourne and stayed with her and her partner for three days. Throughout her relationship with Barack, Genevieve had maintained a journal, which provided a wealth of insights.
Genevieve [Cook, Obama’s girlfriend in New York], characterized by her free-spirited nature, invited me to Australia, where I had the opportunity to connect with her. She had been involved in a subsequent relationship in Australia that had encountered challenges, prompting her to lead a low-profile existence.
During our visit to the Mornington Peninsula in southern Melbourne, where she resides with her partner, we spent three days together. Genevieve had diligently documented her experiences during her time with Barack, resulting in a rich collection of material.