Barack Obama On Rahul Gandhi In His Book: Student Eager To Impress But Lacks Aptitude

Former US President Barack Obama has compared Rahul Gandhi to a student who is "eager to impress" but "lacked either the aptitude or the passion" to master the subject.

The comment was made by Obama in his new book A Promised Land.

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According to a review of the book published in the New York Times, "Rahul Gandhi has a nervous, unformed quality about him, as if he were a student who'd done the coursework and was eager to impress the teacher but deep down lacked either the aptitude or the passion to master the subject."

Even Sonia Gandhi gets a mention

"We are told of the handsomeness of men like Charlie Crist and Rahm Emanuel, but not the beauty of women, except for one or two instances, as in the case of Sonia Gandhi," writes reviewer.

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The reviewer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, quotes Obama directly from his book "A Promised Land", which is set for release later this month and touches upon personal and political life including the eight years that he spent at the White House.

Obama also spoke about former Indian PM Dr Manmohan Singh

Another Indian who was mentioned in the book is former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who Obama describes as "having a kind of impassive integrity."

"Secretary of Defense Bob Gates and the Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh both come across as having a kind of impassive integrity," Obama said.

A Promise Land

Incidentally, Obama and his wife Michelle Obama had for their first official state dinner hosted Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur in November 2009.

Praise for Joe Biden

Speaking about his vice president Joe Biden, who is now the President-elect of the United States, Obama said in his book he "might get prickly if he thought he wasn't given his due - a quality that might flare up when dealing with a much younger boss."

Other international figures who found mention in the book include Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Russia's Vladimir Putin.

He describes France's flashy former president Sarkozy as having "his chest thrust out like a bantam cock's."

About Putin, Obama said he was reminded of the tough, street-smart ward bosses who used to run the Chicago machine. Also on Putin: ¡°Physically, he was unremarkable.¡±

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The former President said he had written the memoir for young people.

"More than anyone else, I wrote my book for young people--as an invitation to once again remake the world, and to bring about, through hard work, determination, and a big dose of imagination, an America that finally aligns with all that is best in us," Obama tweeted.