Five years on from saying goodbye to the White House and his monumental presidency, Barack Obama is set to be the subject of his own biographical, three-part documentary from HBO, Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union, which will span his life and political career.

Arriving in August, the documentary will air just two days before the iconic Leo's 60th birthday, and will heavily focus on Obama's journey as America's first black president, as the country faces division and racism, and is "exposed the ever-present need to address deeply entrenched challenges around race, racial justice and our history," according to HBO.

The three-part series will begin airing on August 2, and will have consecutive releases from August 2-5. Part one, will look at Obama's formative years, navigating his biracial identity in his hometown of Chicago, his upbringing with his mother who was a single parent, and his education and organising work within his community. While he himself does not actually star in the documentary (all of the footage of his interviews are pulled from the archives), a number of speakers, thought leaders, writers, and collaborators will feature throughout.

Part two looks at the campaign trail in 2008 and the struggles he was up against on the journey of becoming the next president, especially the  "constant pressure to define his identity along racial lines and frustrated by what he saw as a distraction from other important issues," according to a press release.

Part three casts its attention on the challenges the president faced once in the White House, namely, when it came to passing legislation. It looks at his triumphs and his defeats, like successfully introducing the Affordable Care Act, and struggling with issues of police brutality, gun control, and more, especially when "He's trying to find middle ground, only to find out that the republicans don't want him to be successful in any way." One of the interviewee's notes in the trailer for Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union.

According to HBO,  author Jelani Cobb, Representative John Lewis, political consultant David Axelrod, Rev. Alvin Love, author Michael Eric Dyson, journalist Laura Washington, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, journalist Michele Norris, New Yorker editor David Remnick, Reverend Al Sharpton, professor Cornel West, politician Jesse Jackson, author Ta-Nehisi Coates, NAACP’s Sherrilyn Ifill, political adviser Valerie Jarrett, professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., actor Keegan-Michael Key, former government official Shirley Sherrod, journalist David Maraniss, professor Ken Mack, speechwriter Jon Favreau, adviser Broderick Johnson, and Representative Bobby Rush will all star in the documentary.

Watch the trailer for Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union, below.

 

Image: @barackobama