Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States.

David Plouffe
For Time

In a new memoir, The Audacity to Win, David Plouffe, who managed Barack Obama's 2008 race for the White House, provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse inside the campaign. Here's an excerpt:

Agony. Ecstasy.

The [Rev. Jeremiah] Wright story broke on a Wednesday and exploded across the media landscape the next day. We decided Obama had to take questions about [his former pastor's inflammatory sermons] head-on on Friday, in a series of lengthy national cable interviews.

There was one not-so-minor complication. He was already scheduled to do editorial boards that Friday afternoon with both Chicago papers about [real estate developer and political fundraiser] Tony Rezko, two hours each, no holds barred. Given no choice but to address Wright as soon as possible, we decided we would do a round of TV interviews on him directly after the Rezko boards. It shaped into quite a day, like having your legs amputated in the morning and your arms at night. The question was whether we would still have a heartbeat at the end of the day.

It was chaos and, quite frankly, frightening. I felt as if the wheels could easily spin off our whole venture. Still, Obama was the pillar of reassurance. "Don't worry, guys," he told us while making some notes on a stack of pages. "I can do more than one thing at a time. We are taking the trash out today. It won't be fun, but we'll be stronger for it."

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U.S. troops on patrol in Paktika Province, Afghanistan

Ed Hornick
CNN

While President Obama's war council deliberates its strategy toward Afghanistan, the ghost of Vietnam is often invoked as a warning.

Afghanistan, U.S. and coalition forces have been fighting in Afghanistan for eight years and until recently the war had been overshadowed by the one in Iraq. In March, Afghanistan will become America's longest war, surpassing the Vietnam War.

The Vietnam War, which cost 58,000 American lives, is the one most often invoked when U.S. troops are committed overseas.

While some say Afghanistan is "Obama's Vietnam," experts say there are several major similarities and differences between the two wars.

Eric Margolis, a veteran journalist and former Army soldier who served during the Vietnam War, said the biggest problem the United States is facing now - as in Vietnam - is fighting the mostly poor, rural insurgents who live among Afghans.

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Kate Bolduan | BIO
CNN

President Obama won 53 percent of the vote last November.

Joy Behar
HLN

In the schoolyard of American politics, President Obama is the big, smart kid with all of the test answers who's being bullied by a bunch of Neanderthal ankle-biters from all sides.

Meanwhile, all the teachers are wondering, "Why does he take this crap? He's bigger and smarter than all the other kids."

It's no surprise the Glenn Becks of the world have been attacking Obama since the moment he stepped into the Oval Office. Beck and his blathering buddies on the right - you know, the stinky kids in the coatroom who eat their own boogers. Always pick on the kids least likely to fight back.

That being said - we did elect President Obama to change things, and so far the only thing he seems to be changing are his faux-patriotic lapel pins ... and his mind

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Anderson Cooper | BIO
AC360° Anchor

Anderson Cooper | BIO
AC360° Anchor

President Obama and his national security team meet in the White House Situation Room.

Ed Henry
CNN Senior White House Correspondent

There's an air of mystery hanging over President Obama's war council, which meets in secrecy yet again this week to discuss a new strategy for Afghanistan in the highly secure White House Situation Room.

But senior officials closely involved in the decision-making process reveal that the president and his team are grappling with one particularly urgent question: Will Gen. Stanley McChrystal's push for 40,000 more U.S. troops really secure Afghanistan?

McChrystal, who has been joining the president's war council by secure videophone, framed this debate weeks ago by writing in his now-famous memo that failing to send that many troops could result in the mission failing. But some of Obama's other top advisers are privately expressing heavy skepticism that sending 40,000 troops will result in a successful Iraq-style surge.

"Afghanistan is not Iraq," one senior administration official said. "To say that we can take what we did in Iraq and Xerox it and send it to Afghanistan is obtuse."

A second administration official confirmed this viewpoint has real currency inside Obama's war council.

"With 40,000 more troops, you cannot do an Iraq-style surge," this official said. "It's totally different than Iraq. The strategy is not easily transferable - there are unique challenges in Afghanistan."

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A U.S. miliary guard stands inside the Camp V area at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Michael V. Hayden
Special to CNN

I know that the story has moved on, that the outline of the journalistic narrative has been set, and that the "first draft" of history has been just about finalized. Before the ink dries though, I would like to offer at least a footnote.

And this footnote has to do with President Obama's decision in April to release opinions drafted by the Department of Justice that detailed the CIA's interrogation program for high-value al Qaeda detainees.

Specifically, it has to do with the argument made publicly and privately by the administration that its hand was being forced by a pending decision in a Freedom of Information Act case by the American Civil Liberties Union before Judge Alvin Hellerstein in New York.

Indeed, when Obama visited the CIA the Monday after the release of the documents, he specifically cited this argument in his remarks to the work force.

He said that he released "... the Justice Department Office of Legal Council (OLC) memos as a consequence of a court case that was pending and to which it was very difficult for us to mount an effective legal defense. ..."

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WH Communications Director Anita Dunn tells CNN's Howard Kurtz that Fox News Network is basically an arm of the GOP.

Martina Stewart
CNN Associate Producer

Far from backing away from its recent slam at 24-hours cable news outlet Fox News, the White House is stepping up its criticism of the cable news network.

“The reality of it is that Fox often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party,” White House Communications Director Anita Dunn said in an interview that aired Sunday on CNN’s “Reliable Sources.”

Dunn said that Obama had recently chosen not to appear on Fox because of the administration’s belief that Fox is ideologically predisposed against Obama and his agenda.

But Dunn pointed out that during his presidential campaign and since being elected, Obama has been interviewed by Fox News, and will be again in the future.

“He’ll go on Fox because he engages with ideological opponents,” Dunn told CNN’s Howard Kurtz. “He has done that before and he’ll do it again.”

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Earnings and consumer confidence reports will affect markets and indicate whether the economy is rebounding.

John King
CNN Chief National Correspondent
Anchor, State of the Union

For a sense of the economy, it is a good week to track the earnings reports from Wall Street. And for the two biggest issues confronting the Obama White House - Afghanistan and health care - keep your eyes on Washington.

It was the collapse of the financial sector that played the biggest role in the economic turmoil of 2008, and several earnings reports in that sector this week are sure to influence both financial markets and the political debates over bailouts and bonuses. JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America are scheduled to report their earnings.

Consumer spending is another economic engine, and if there is early evidence of a rebound, the earnings from Johnson & Johnson and General Electric might provide clues, just as the numbers from Google and Intel will give a sense of the tech sector.

Washington celebrates Columbus Day on Monday, so the political week begins in earnest on Tuesday. The Senate Finance Committee likely will dominate the day as it votes on a 10-year, $829 billion health care plan.

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