Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama, more than most presidential candidates, has a life rich with transforming experiences. Few are as important as writing his first book, ``Dreams From My Father.''

The book, written before he was a politician, is a raw, searching and candid portrait of the contradictions and conflicts of his unusual first 30 years.

``It was a struggle to look honestly into his period of rebelliousness, growing up biracial, and the hurt of being abandoned by his father,'' recalls his close friend, Valerie Jarrett. ``It was at times a painful exercise, but it was a catharsis. By the end, he was whole.''

The self-discoveries emanating from the book offer reassurance that Obama is a secure, self-confident man.

This is in contrast to the U.S.'s two most recent presidents: George W. Bush, who gives off an air of cocky self- confidence, wasn't sufficiently secure to consult skeptics, including his own father, when he made a fatal decision to go to war; Bill Clinton's unrivaled intelligence and political acumen weren't sufficient to deter his bouts of personal recklessness.

Obama has personal issues -- as the most prominent black politician in American history, race is always there. And there's a tinge of arrogance, or more accurately, self- righteousness. Still, as Jarrett suggests, he is ``whole.''

This doesn't tell us what kind of president he would be or which policies he would pursue or even how he would respond in a crisis. But character is destiny. There have been American leaders with it who have failed; there has never been a president without character who succeeded.

Smart as Clinton

Intellectually, Obama is truly gifted. ``He's at least as smart as Bill Clinton,'' says Abner J. Mikva, who was White House counsel during the Clinton administration and has known Obama for two decades.

Mikva, while a U.S. Court of Appeals judge, offered Obama a clerkship, a sure path to a similar and highly coveted post at the Supreme Court. Obama turned him down. The Harvard Law School graduate told the judge he wanted to enter politics in Chicago. Mikva, a former congressman from Chicago, marveled at his ``naïveté.''

There is one powerful trait in Obama, Mikva says, that Clinton lacked: ``tremendous self-discipline.'' Campaigns are usually reflections of the candidates, and rarely has America seen one as disciplined as this historic adventure.

No Social Darwinist

The Democratic nominee has well-honed liberal instincts, especially on equity issues; he genuinely disdains what he considers the ``social Darwinism'' of many Republican policies on taxes, health care and spending priorities.

Yet he is no ideologue and invariably has disappointed left-wingers in the Illinois State Legislature, the U.S. Senate and as a candidate. At every juncture of his career he has found some common cause with philosophical opposites.

He is also opportunistic. As a Senate candidate in 2004, the longtime gun-control advocate supported a measure allowing retired police officers to carry concealed weapons. Subsequently, he won an important endorsement from the Fraternal Order of Police. That's a good trade-off for any politician.

Occasionally, the expediency is less attractive. When he got to be a big national figure and lucrative offers came in for a second book, he ditched the agent who was with him when he was a nobody during the writing of his first, and much better book.

Protectionism

Sometimes it's complicated. His protectionist rhetoric in the primaries may have been necessary to fend off Hillary Clinton, who started the trade bashing. Obama isn't a protectionist, and this stuff may come back to haunt him if he wins.

He is both a very cautious and remarkably bold politician. Running for a Senate seat several years after getting clobbered in a House primary was gutsy. So was going against conventional wisdom and taking on the Clinton political machine.

If he loses this election, however, one reason may be his inexplicable rejection of a series of debates or forums with his Republican adversary, John McCain. In this case, he bowed to conventional wisdom that he was ahead, so why take the risk? He may live to regret that decision.

The biggest worry about an Obama presidency is the flip side of his self-confidence, his occasional lapses into hubris. This is most worrisome on foreign policy, not because of his inexperience, but because he seems so supremely self-confident about his instincts.

Foreign-Policy Weakness

The Obama campaign reflects unsteadiness on overseas issues at critical moments. When Russia invaded Georgia a few weeks ago, his initial comments were vapid; throughout the day he had to toughen his posture.

Yet Obama's entire history and the discoveries he made in writing his first book suggest he will be comfortable around strong people with diverse views. His biracial background and eclectic experiences all attest to that.

More than any leader, perhaps since Franklin Roosevelt, he appears more likely to emulate Abraham Lincoln's ``team of rivals,'' the phrase coined by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin to describe the 16th president's ability to surround himself with forceful, independent-minded advisers.

Hillary Clinton's chief strategist, Mark Penn, in private e-mails published in the latest edition of the Atlantic Monthly, charges that Obama is ``not at his center fundamentally American in his thinking and in his values.''

That merely reinforces the pettiness of the discredited Penn.

Essence of America

Thomas Jefferson, if he could shed his racial hang-ups, today would find the Obama story the essence of the America he envisioned.

Obama would assume the presidency with an appreciation of the force of the office. In early May, several of his closest friends joined the campaign in Indiana during that state's important primary. As the candidate campaigned, they privately argued over what they would call him in personal moments if he were elected.

He later joined them and asked what they had been debating. Told, he quickly replied: ``You will call me Mr. President.''

(Albert R. Hunt is the executive editor for Washington at Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this column: Albert R. Hunt in Washington at ahunt1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 24, 2008 10:05 EDT