President Barack Obama surprised many voters during a pre-election interview when he approvingly noted that Ronald Reagan had "changed the trajectory of America" in a way that other presidents had not. In effect, Obama was saying that he, too, aimed to transform America in some fundamental way. Yet while Americans in 1982 may have been divided over Reagan's politics, at least they knew what he stood for. Do we really understand Obama's vision for our country? In his controversial new book, veteran journalist Stanley Kurtz culls together two years of investigations from archives and never-before- tapped sources to present an exhaustively researched exposé of President Obama's biggest secret-the socialist convictions and tactical ruthlessness he has long swept under the rug. A personable figure, a thoughtful politician, and an inspiring orator, Obama has hidden his core political beliefs from the American people-sometimes by directly misrepresenting his past and sometimes by omitting or parceling out damaging information to disguise its real importance. The president presents himself as a post-ideological pragmatist, yet his current policies grow directly from the nexus of socialist associates and theories that has shaped him throughout his adult life.