Journalist A.R. Shaw Releases eBook “How President Barack Obama Would Have Handled COVID-19: A Look at Obama’s Fight Against Global Pandemics”

Journalist and author A.R. Shaw covered President Barack Obama’s terms in office from 2008 to 2016. He has released his six chapter eBook “How President Barack Obama Would Have Handled COVID-19: A Look at Obama’s Fight Against Global Pandemics.”

Shaw’s research shines as he provides innumerable details on actions both presidents took when tackling pandemics. In Chapter 5, How President Obama May Have Approached COVID-19, Shaw discusses “Playbook for Early Response to High-Consequence Emerging Infectious Disease Threats and Biological Incident,” the 69-page plan Obama’s National Security Council prepared for future administrations.

The book outlined a proper response to pandemics from the U.S. government and presented duties of each agency during a pandemic. “How President Barack Obama Would Have Handled COVID-19” notes that Trump’s administration was briefed on the manual in 2017 but dismissed it as “outdated.” The following year, the National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense unit was dissolved.

In Chapter 2, A Look at President Obama’s Approach to Pandemics, Shaw writes that on April 29, 2009, Obama requested $1.5 billion in emergency funding from the United States Congress to monitor and track the H1N1 virus two weeks after a child in San Diego, California tested positive for the new influenza strain. In Chapter 3, President Trump’s Approach to COVID-19, Shaw notes that on February 5, 2020, two weeks after a U.S. citizen tested positive for COVID-19, the Trump administration did not request additional funding despite the urging of U.S. senators. Later that month, Trump called the virus a hoax.

“How President Barack Obama Would Have Handled COVID-19” even addresses Obama’s recent remarks about the Trump administration’s handling of COVID-19. In Chapter 6, Lessons Learned From COVID-19, Shaw describes audio released on May 9, 2020 of Obama speaking to members of the Obama Alumni Association. During the private call, Obama criticized Trump’s lack of preparedness and inconsistent messages. “It’s part of the reason why the response to this global crisis has been so anemic and spotty,” Obama said. “It would have been bad even with the best of governments. It has been an absolute chaotic disaster when that mindset — of ‘what’s in it for me’ and ‘to heck with everybody else’ — when that mindset is operationalized in our government.” 

The public’s reaction to President Donald Trump’s dealings with COVID-19 prompted Shaw to write the book. “As we were living through this pandemic, it was important for me to really look at what was going on with the current administration and also think back to what President Obama did,” he said. “There have been a lot of memes and people saying they wished Obama was still the president but I wanted to back it up with facts. What if Obama was still president, would it be any different?”

Shaw wrote the “How President Barack Obama Would Have Handled COVID-19” in April. “I was able to research several speeches and policies he implemented during his two terms to see how he approached those pandemics as opposed to how Trump approached COVID-19,” he said.

“How President Obama Would Have Handled COVID-19” chapters:

1. How Did COVID-19 Takeover the World?

2. A Look at President Obama’s Approach to Pandemics

3. President Trump’s Approach to COVID-19

4. President Trump’s Mixed and Dangerous Message

5. How President Obama May Have Approached COVID-19

6. Lessons Learned From COVID-19

“How President Barack Obama Would Have Handled COVID-19: A Look at Obama’s Fight Against Global Pandemics“ is available on Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, and website ObamaAmerica.com for $4.99.