--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everyone who knew [Barack] Obama from…" description: "\"Everyone who knew [Barack] Obama from being in Hyde Park knew he was the smartest guy in any room he walked into; a decent, compassionate, lovely perso..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cc/bill-ayers-1848_ambitious_everyone-who-knew-barack-obama-from-bein_2238556.png" --- # Everyone who knew \[Barack\] Obama from being in Hyde Park… ![“Everyone who knew [Barack] Obama from being in Hyde Park knew he was the smartest guy in any room he walked into; a decent, compassionate, lovely person; pragmatic, middle-of-the-road and ambitious.” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cc/bill-ayers-1848_ambitious_everyone-who-knew-barack-obama-from-bein_2238556.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cc/bill-ayers-1848_ambitious_everyone-who-knew-barack-obama-from-bein_2238556.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cc/bill-ayers-1848_ambitious_everyone-who-knew-barack-obama-from-bein_2238556.png) > “Everyone who knew \[Barack\] Obama from being in Hyde Park knew he was the smartest guy in any room he walked into; a decent, compassionate, lovely person; pragmatic, middle-of-the-road and ambitious.” [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker praises Obama’s intelligence, kindness, practicality, and ambition as observed in informal settings. **In simple terms:** Obama is described as smart, kind, practical, and ambitious. Key Takeaway Recognize and value balanced leadership qualities. Themes leadership character intelligence Mood respectful admiring Type character assessment political commentary When to use this quote - campaign events - community meetings - media interviews Key Concepts politics social perception personal reputation Questions to Reflect On - How does personal familiarity shape political judgments? - What qualities matter most in a leader? A Different Perspective The description may be biased due to personal relationships. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambitious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambitious/) [Compassionate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassionate/) [Hyde park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hyde-park/) [Lovely person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lovely-person/) [Middle of the road](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-of-the-road/) [Pragmatic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pragmatic/) ## Related quotes > [I knew Barack Obama, absolutely. And I knew him probably as well as thousands of other Chicagoans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-knew-barack-obama-absolutely-and-i-knew-him-probably-as-well-as/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [The America that we knew as the smartest place on the planet is gone with the wind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-stein/the-america-that-we-knew-as-the-smartest-place-on-the-planet-is-gone/) [Ben Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-stein/) > [Then I lost him for a brief period of time, and by the time I caught up with him, he had wandered into Hyde…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/then-i-lost-him-for-a-brief-period-of-time-and-by-the-time-i-caught/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [You point your feet out too much when you walk,” Will went on. He was busy polishing an apple on his shirtfront, and appeared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/you-point-your-feet-out-too-much-when-you-walk-will-went-on-he-was-2/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [After a year, it was great to get out of L.A. and return to Hyde Park. Since my grandparents lived in Hyde Park, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-jo-campbell/after-a-year-it-was-great-to-get-out-of-l-a-and-return-to-hyde-park/) [Bonnie Jo Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-jo-campbell/) > [The fate of the African continent does not f-ing depend on a load of f-ing musicians in Hyde Park singing f-ing s-t songs to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noel-gallagher/the-fate-of-the-african-continent-does-not-f-ing-depend-on-a-load-of/) [Noel Gallagher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noel-gallagher/) > [They tell me that So-and-So, who does not write prefaces, is no charlatan. Well, I am. I first caught the ear of the British…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/they-tell-me-that-so-and-so-who-does-not-write-prefaces-is-no/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [I was just thinking of bundling up Cecily and feeding her to the ducks at Hyde Park," said Will, pushing his wet hair back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/i-was-just-thinking-of-bundling-up-cecily-and-feeding-her-to-the/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Of all the sights and sounds which attracted me on my first arrival to live in London in the mid-thirties, one combined operation left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-foot/of-all-the-sights-and-sounds-which-attracted-me-on-my-first-arrival/) [Michael Foot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-foot/) > [It came to me that Hyde Park has never belonged to London - that it has always been , in spirit, a stretch of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/it-came-to-me-that-hyde-park-has-never-belonged-to-london-that-it-has/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [I was just thinking of bunding up Cecily and feeding her to the ducks in Hyde Park," said Will, pushing his wet hair back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/i-was-just-thinking-of-bunding-up-cecily-and-feeding-her-to-the-ducks/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Cardiff Stadium was a warm up for the 3 Hyde Park shows. James Brown opened. And I think it may be the only time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-smith/cardiff-stadium-was-a-warm-up-for-the-3-hyde-park-shows-james-brown/) [Chad Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-smith/) > [Professor von Mises has a splendid analytical mind and an admirable passion for liberty; but as a student of human nature he is worse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/professor-von-mises-has-a-splendid-analytical-mind-and-an-admirable/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [I learned the power of radio watching Eleanor Roosevelt do her show. I used to go up to Hyde Park and hold her papers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-funt/i-learned-the-power-of-radio-watching-eleanor-roosevelt-do-her-show-i/) Allen Funt > [On Christmas Day I'll head off for a couple of laps around the Serpentine, or a trek around the whole of Hyde Park. Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stella-vine/on-christmas-day-i-ll-head-off-for-a-couple-of-laps-around-the/) [Stella Vine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stella-vine/) ## More by Bill Ayers > [ It wasn't \[Barack\] Obama per se; it was the feeling on the ground; it was seeing an old black woman in a wheelchair being… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/it-wasn-t-barack-obama-per-se-it-was-the-feeling-on-the-ground-it-was/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I didn't respond to people thrusting microphones at me and asking me questions that were unanswerable in a sound bite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-didn-t-respond-to-people-thrusting-microphones-at-me-and-asking-me/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I haven't been silent. I teach, I lecture at universities, I write, I'm not silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-haven-t-been-silent-i-teach-i-lecture-at-universities-i-write-i-m/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ One of the great crimes of the Bloomberg/Klein administration \[in New York City\] is that they've removed themselves from communities, as if communities have… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/one-of-the-great-crimes-of-the-bloomberg-klein-administration-in-new/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I was involved in the anti-war movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-was-involved-in-the-anti-war-movement/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ \[Lyndon \] Johnson was responding to a black freedom movement that was tearing the country open and he did what he had to do… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/lyndon-johnson-was-responding-to-a-black-freedom-movement-that-was/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ I'm wary of government. Part of \[the Tea Party\] impulse is to dislike and be worried about the rich. I'm that way too. So… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-m-wary-of-government-part-of-the-tea-party-impulse-is-to-dislike/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ I'd been arrested many times by then. I'd been an organizer, so many things had changed over those three years \[from 1965 till 1968\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-d-been-arrested-many-times-by-then-i-d-been-an-organizer-so-many/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [You cannot live a political life, you cannot live a moral life if you're not willing to open your eyes and see the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/you-cannot-live-a-political-life-you-cannot-live-a-moral-life-if-you/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I was a good liberal in some sense at that point. I wanted to end a war. I wanted to support the civil rights…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-was-a-good-liberal-in-some-sense-at-that-point-i-wanted-to-end-a/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [The fact is that in my prep school, I went to a boarding school, 39 young men graduated from that prep school. Five years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-fact-is-that-in-my-prep-school-i-went-to-a-boarding-school-39/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ \[The whole first year at university\] was a great time for me and great time of awakening. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-whole-first-year-at-university-was-a-great-time-for-me-and-great/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [The truth is that the antiwar movement was powered by the working class. The students were the ones that got the media and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-truth-is-that-the-antiwar-movement-was-powered-by-the-working/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [There was one moment when J. Edgar Hoover and us had the same distorted lens about who we were - "a real threat," you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/there-was-one-moment-when-j-edgar-hoover-and-us-had-the-same/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [Every politician - FDR, Lyndon Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama - they're all conservative by nature. They are part of the big thing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/every-politician-fdr-lyndon-johnson-abraham-lincoln-barack-obama-they/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) [Explore all 204 Bill Ayers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) ## More Ambitious quotes > [I'm hungry and ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julen-lopetegui/i-m-hungry-and-ambitious/) [Julen Lopetegui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julen-lopetegui/) > [I want my squad to be confident, ambitious. They have to believe in big things and we have to set targets internally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-howe/i-want-my-squad-to-be-confident-ambitious-they-have-to-believe-in-big/) [Eddie Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-howe/) > [I almost never have a plan for myself... I'm not ambitious in that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-plimpton/i-almost-never-have-a-plan-for-myself-i-m-not-ambitious-in-that-way/) [Martha Plimpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-plimpton/) > [“Getting rich is easy, staying rich is impressive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-trip/getting-rich-is-easy-staying-rich-is-impressive/) [Don Trip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-trip/) > [Trying to be perfect may be inevitable for people who are smart and ambitious and interested in the world and its good opinion...What is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/trying-to-be-perfect-may-be-inevitable-for-people-who-are-smart-and/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [Business is always a struggle. There are always obstacles and competitors. There is never an open road, except the wide road that leads to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kirubi/business-is-always-a-struggle-there-are-always-obstacles-and/) Chris Kirubi > [I am ambitious to do more than what has been offered me. I want to be the best in whatever career I choose and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uday-chopra/i-am-ambitious-to-do-more-than-what-has-been-offered-me-i-want-to-be/) [Uday Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uday-chopra/) > [There are four varieties in society — the lovers, the ambitious, observers, and fools. The fools are the happiest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippolyte-taine/there-are-four-varieties-in-society-the-lovers-the-ambitious/) [Hippolyte Taine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippolyte-taine/) > [People who are ambitious - politicians who crave power - think that they're in control of it, but at some point, the movement that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-liu/people-who-are-ambitious-politicians-who-crave-power-think-that-they/) [Ken Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-liu/) > [I'm not ambitious. Not a bit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/i-m-not-ambitious-not-a-bit/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [Aggressive and hard-charging women violate unwritten rules about acceptable social conduct. Men are continually applauded for being ambitious and powerful and successful, but women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-sandberg/aggressive-and-hard-charging-women-violate-unwritten-rules-about/) [Sheryl Sandberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-sandberg/) > [I understood early on that I was not the best-looking girl in the room. But I knew my advantage was a hard work ethic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-o-connor/i-understood-early-on-that-i-was-not-the-best-looking-girl-in-the/) [Erin O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-o-connor/) > [It is ordained that to the ambitious, who derive no satisfaction from the gifts of life and the beauty of the world, life shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/it-is-ordained-that-to-the-ambitious-who-derive-no-satisfaction-from/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [If Reagan and John Paul II were linked by anything, it was a grand, ambitious, and generous idea of Western political civilization, one in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/if-reagan-and-john-paul-ii-were-linked-by-anything-it-was-a-grand/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [To talk only about national security, national defense, means to be selfish, ambitious. It is discrimination, isolation. "It is just me. What do I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evo-morales/to-talk-only-about-national-security-national-defense-means-to-be/) [Evo Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evo-morales/) [Browse all 1,269 Ambitious quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambitious/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Everyone who knew [Barack] Obama from being in Hyde Park knew he was the smartest guy in any room he walked into; a decent, compassionate, lovely person; pragmatic, middle-of-the-road and ambitious.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bill Ayers" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/everyone-who-knew-barack-obama-from-being-in-hyde-park-knew-he-was/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ambitious" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/everyone-who-knew-barack-obama-from-being-in-hyde-park-knew-he-was/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cc/bill-ayers-1848_ambitious_everyone-who-knew-barack-obama-from-bein_2238556.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cc/bill-ayers-1848_ambitious_everyone-who-knew-barack-obama-from-bein_2238556.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cc/bill-ayers-1848_ambitious_everyone-who-knew-barack-obama-from-bein_2238556.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Everyone who knew [Barack] Obama from being in Hyde Park knew he was the smartest guy in any room he walked…” — Bill Ayers", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bill Ayers", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Everyone who knew [Barack] Obama from...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/everyone-who-knew-barack-obama-from-being-in-hyde-park-knew-he-was/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/everyone-who-knew-barack-obama-from-being-in-hyde-park-knew-he-was/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```