
The Communist
Frank Marshall Davis: The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mentor
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $17.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Pete Larkin
-
By:
-
Paul Kengor
About this listen
In his memoir, Barack Obama omits the full name of his mentor, simply calling him "Frank." Now, the truth is out: Never has a figure as deeply troubling and controversial as Frank Marshall Davis had such an impact on the development of an American president.
Although other radical influences on Obama - from Jeremiah Wright to Bill Ayers-have been scrutinized, the public knows little about Davis, a card-carrying member of the Communist Party USA, cited by the Associated Press as an "important influence" on Obama, one whom he "looked to" not merely for "advice on living" but as a "father" figure.
While the Left has willingly dismissed Davis (with good reason), here are the indisputable, eye-opening facts: Frank Marshall Davis was a pro-Soviet, pro–Red China communist. His Communist Party USA card number, revealed in FBI files, was CP number 47544. He was a prototype of the loyal Soviet patriot, so radical that the FBI placed him on the federal government's Security Index. In the early 1950s, Davis opposed U.S. attempts to slow Stalin and Mao. He favored Red Army takeovers of Central and Eastern Europe, and communist control in Korea and Vietnam. Dutifully serving the cause, he edited and wrote for communist newspapers in both Chicago and Honolulu, courting contributors who were Soviet agents. In the 1970s, amid this dangerous political theater, Frank Marshall Davis came into Barack Obama's life.Aided by access to explosive declassified FBI files, Soviet archives, and Davis's original newspaper columns, Paul Kengor explores how Obama sought out Davis and how Davis found in Obama an impressionable young man, one susceptible to Davis's worldview that opposed American policy and traditional values while praising communist regimes. Kengor sees remnants of this worldview in Obama's early life and even, ultimately, his presidency.
Kengor charts with definitive accuracy the progression of Davis's communist ideas from Chicago to Hawaii. He explores how certain elements of the Obama administration's agenda reflect Davis's columns advocating wealth redistribution, government stimulus for "public works projects," taxpayer-funding of universal health care, and nationalizing General Motors. Davis's writings excoriated the "tentacles of big business," blasted Wall Street and "greedy" millionaires, lambasted GOP tax cuts that "spare the rich," attacked "excess profits" and oil companies, and perceived the Catholic Church as an obstacle to his vision for the state-all the while echoing Davis's often repeated mantra for transformational and fundamental "change."And yet, The Communist is not unsympathetic to Davis, revealing him as something of a victim, an African American who suffered devastating racial persecution in the Jim Crow era, steering this justly angered young man on a misguided political track. That Davis supported violent and heartless communist regimes over his own country is impossible to defend. That he was a source of inspiration to President Barack Obama is impossible to ignore.
Is Obama working to fulfill the dreams of Frank Marshall Davis? That question has been impossible to answer, since Davis's writings and relationship with Obama have either been deliberately obscured or dismissed as irrelevant. With Kengor's The Communist, Americans can finally weigh the evidence and decide for themselves.
©2012 Paul Kengor (P)2012 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
-
Dupes
- How America's Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century
- By: Paul Kengor
- Narrated by: Buck Groat
- Length: 25 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this startling, intensively researched book, best-selling historian Paul Kengor shines light on a deeply troubling aspect of American history: the prominent role of the "dupe". From the Bolshevik Revolution through the Cold War and right up to the present, many progressives have unwittingly aided some of America's most dangerous opponents.
-
-
Communism fails despite much help from the left
- By Tiresmoker on 09-28-20
By: Paul Kengor
-
The Devil and Karl Marx
- Communism's Long March of Death, Deception, and Infiltration
- By: Paul Kengor
- Narrated by: Kevin O'Brien
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two decades after the publication of The Black Book of Communism, nearly everyone is or at least should be aware of the immense evil produced by that devilish ideology first hatched when Karl Marx penned his Communist Manifesto two centuries ago. Far too many people, however, separate Marx the man from the evils wrought by the oppressive ideology and theory that bears his name.
-
-
Must read in today's climate
- By sarah on 08-25-20
By: Paul Kengor
-
The Democrat Party Hates America
- By: Mark R. Levin
- Narrated by: Jeremy Lowell, Mark R. Levin
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In American Marxism, Mark Levin explained how Marxist ideology has invaded our society and culture. In doing so, he exposed the institutions, scholars, and activists leading the revolution. Now, he picks up where he left off: to hold responsible the true malefactors steering our country down the wrong path. Insightful and hard-hitting as ever, Levin proves that since its establishment, the Democrat Party has set out to rewrite history and destroy the foundation of freedom in America.
-
-
As always thank you Mr. Levin for your Insight.
- By Yukonwill on 09-24-23
By: Mark R. Levin
-
Social Justice Fallacies
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Brad Sanders
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The quest for social justice is a powerful crusade of our time, with an appeal to many different people, for many different reasons. But those who use the same words do not always present the same meanings. Clarifying those meanings is the first step toward finding out what we agree on and disagree on. From there, it is largely a question of what the facts are. Social Justice Fallacies reveals how many things that are thought to be true simply cannot stand up to documented facts, which are often the opposite of what is widely believed.
-
-
Timely book by 93 year old Thomas Sowell
- By Wayne on 09-27-23
By: Thomas Sowell
-
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Communism
- By: Paul Kengor
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The worst idea in history is back! Communism has wrecked national economies, enslaved whole peoples, and killed more than a hundred million men and women. What's not to like? Too many young Americans are supporting communism. Millennials prefer socialism to capitalism, and 25 percent have a positive view of Lenin. One in four Americans believe that George W. Bush killed more people than Joseph Stalin. And 69 percent of millennials would vote for a socialist for president. They ought to know better.
-
-
Should be required reading in High School
- By Kurt on 02-16-18
By: Paul Kengor
-
Deception
- The Great COVID Cover-Up
- By: Rand Paul
- Narrated by: Joe Louis
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
COVID-19 was deadly, but the real killer was the coverup, led by America’s most durable medical bureaucrat—a man for whom the truth was too often expendable. Senator Paul makes a powerful case that funding dangerous bioengineering in a totalitarian country is madness.
-
-
Not so much a book for today...
- By Mermaid on 10-15-23
By: Rand Paul
-
Dupes
- How America's Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century
- By: Paul Kengor
- Narrated by: Buck Groat
- Length: 25 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this startling, intensively researched book, best-selling historian Paul Kengor shines light on a deeply troubling aspect of American history: the prominent role of the "dupe". From the Bolshevik Revolution through the Cold War and right up to the present, many progressives have unwittingly aided some of America's most dangerous opponents.
-
-
Communism fails despite much help from the left
- By Tiresmoker on 09-28-20
By: Paul Kengor
-
The Devil and Karl Marx
- Communism's Long March of Death, Deception, and Infiltration
- By: Paul Kengor
- Narrated by: Kevin O'Brien
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two decades after the publication of The Black Book of Communism, nearly everyone is or at least should be aware of the immense evil produced by that devilish ideology first hatched when Karl Marx penned his Communist Manifesto two centuries ago. Far too many people, however, separate Marx the man from the evils wrought by the oppressive ideology and theory that bears his name.
-
-
Must read in today's climate
- By sarah on 08-25-20
By: Paul Kengor
-
The Democrat Party Hates America
- By: Mark R. Levin
- Narrated by: Jeremy Lowell, Mark R. Levin
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In American Marxism, Mark Levin explained how Marxist ideology has invaded our society and culture. In doing so, he exposed the institutions, scholars, and activists leading the revolution. Now, he picks up where he left off: to hold responsible the true malefactors steering our country down the wrong path. Insightful and hard-hitting as ever, Levin proves that since its establishment, the Democrat Party has set out to rewrite history and destroy the foundation of freedom in America.
-
-
As always thank you Mr. Levin for your Insight.
- By Yukonwill on 09-24-23
By: Mark R. Levin
-
Social Justice Fallacies
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Brad Sanders
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The quest for social justice is a powerful crusade of our time, with an appeal to many different people, for many different reasons. But those who use the same words do not always present the same meanings. Clarifying those meanings is the first step toward finding out what we agree on and disagree on. From there, it is largely a question of what the facts are. Social Justice Fallacies reveals how many things that are thought to be true simply cannot stand up to documented facts, which are often the opposite of what is widely believed.
-
-
Timely book by 93 year old Thomas Sowell
- By Wayne on 09-27-23
By: Thomas Sowell
-
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Communism
- By: Paul Kengor
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The worst idea in history is back! Communism has wrecked national economies, enslaved whole peoples, and killed more than a hundred million men and women. What's not to like? Too many young Americans are supporting communism. Millennials prefer socialism to capitalism, and 25 percent have a positive view of Lenin. One in four Americans believe that George W. Bush killed more people than Joseph Stalin. And 69 percent of millennials would vote for a socialist for president. They ought to know better.
-
-
Should be required reading in High School
- By Kurt on 02-16-18
By: Paul Kengor
-
Deception
- The Great COVID Cover-Up
- By: Rand Paul
- Narrated by: Joe Louis
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
COVID-19 was deadly, but the real killer was the coverup, led by America’s most durable medical bureaucrat—a man for whom the truth was too often expendable. Senator Paul makes a powerful case that funding dangerous bioengineering in a totalitarian country is madness.
-
-
Not so much a book for today...
- By Mermaid on 10-15-23
By: Rand Paul
-
Unwoke
- How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America
- By: Ted Cruz
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a book both articulate and desperately needed, bestselling author Senator Ted Cruz provides a long overdue argument against the woke takeover of education, big business, the media, and Hollywood.
-
-
This is one of top listens
- By chas on 12-12-23
By: Ted Cruz
-
God and Ronald Reagan
- A Spiritual Life
- By: Paul Kengor
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ronald Reagan is hailed today for a presidency that restored optimism to America, engendered years of economic prosperity, and helped bring about the fall of the Soviet Union. Yet until now little attention has been paid to the role Reagan's personal spirituality played in his political career, shaping his ideas, bolstering his resolve, and ultimately compelling him to confront the brutal - and, not coincidentally, atheistic - Soviet empire.
-
-
The wealth of information due to diligent research & verifiable sources.
- By Elizabeth McComber on 04-04-25
By: Paul Kengor
-
The Devil and Bella Dodd
- One Woman's Struggle Against Communism and Her Redemption
- By: Mary Nicholas, Paul Kengor
- Narrated by: Melissa Elson
- Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“Step by step, I retreated from God and went forth to meet the world, the flesh, and the devil.... I’d join the devil himself.... There is no doubt that I traveled with him at my side and that he extorted a great price for his company.” This is how Bella Dodd (1904–69) described her long battle with atheistic communism, an ideology her Church calls a “satanic scourge.” She later described it as a “school of darkness,” a school of “hate,” a school for which she was a master organizer and infiltrator of every organization—public, private, and even ecclesiastical.
-
-
Bella Dodd needs a better biography.
- By Scott Free on 02-01-25
By: Mary Nicholas, and others
-
Dark Agenda
- The War to Destroy Christian America
- By: David Horowitz
- Narrated by: Phil Paonessa
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times best-selling author David Horowitz exposes not only the progressive war against Christianity but also a war against America and its founding principles - which are Christian in their origin. Dark Agenda is about an embattled religion, but, most of all, it is about our imperiled nation. Tackling a broad range of issues from prayer in the schools to the globalist mindset, Horowitz traces the anti-Christian movement to its roots in communism.
-
-
Another Gem From David Horowitz
- By OhHaleYeah on 03-27-19
By: David Horowitz
-
The Marxification of Education
- Paulo Freire's Critical Marxism and the Theft of Education
- By: James Lindsay
- Narrated by: James Lindsay
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Education is in bad shape in America and beyond today. It’s obvious. Everyone perceives it. Something is going badly wrong in our schools. Our children aren’t learning as they should be. Their mastery of core academic curriculum like reading, writing, history, mathematics, science, and civics has declined to crisis levels and shows no signs of improvement. Meanwhile, they’re all learning to be activists, turning their backs on their nations, societies, and even their parents and religions.
-
-
Clearly describe Marxists cult theft of education
- By ANDREAS SAEBJOERNSEN on 12-24-22
By: James Lindsay
-
The Great Reset
- Joe Biden and the Rise of Twenty-First-Century Fascism
- By: Glenn Beck, Justin Trask Haskins
- Narrated by: Glenn Beck
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An international conspiracy among powerful bankers, business leaders, and government officials; closed-door meetings in the Swiss Alps; and calls for a radical transformation of every society on earth - the Great Reset sounds like it is one henchman-with-an-eyepatch away from being the plot for the next James Bond movie. But The Great Reset is not a work of fiction. It is a highly influential movement among the world’s elite to “reset” the global economy using banks, government programs, and environmental, social, and governance metrics.
-
-
Where Do We Go From Here?
- By David on 02-04-22
By: Glenn Beck, and others
-
The Vision of the Anointed
- Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Jim Seybert
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Vision of the Anointed is a devastating critique of the mindset behind the failed social policies of the past thirty years. Thomas Sowell sees what has happened not as a series of isolated mistakes, but as a logical consequence of a vision whose defects have led to disasters in education, crime, family disintegration, and other social pathology. In this book, "politically correct" theory is repeatedly confronted with facts-and sharp contradictions between the two are explained in terms of a whole set of self-congratulatory assumptions held by political and intellectual elites.
-
-
An Absolute Masterpiece!
- By Brendan Martino on 04-04-22
By: Thomas Sowell
-
America's Cultural Revolution
- How the Radical Left Conquered Everything
- By: Christopher F. Rufo
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 1960s, Mao launched China’s Cultural Revolution. Cities grew overcrowded. Technocrats demanded progress from above. Anyone opposed was sent to be “re-educated.” China’s revolution was bloody, fast, and a failure, but what if America started a revolution at the same time, based on the same bad ideas, and it’s just been slower, calmer, and more effective?
-
-
Outstanding Analysis
- By Roman on 07-22-23
-
The Thomas Sowell Reader
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 14 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
These selections from the many writings of Thomas Sowell over a period of half a century cover social, economic, cultural, legal, educational, and political issues. The sources range from Dr. Sowell’s letters, books, newspaper columns, and articles in both scholarly journals and popular magazines. The topics range from latetalking children to tax cuts for the rich, baseball, race, war, the role of judges, medical care, and the rhetoric of politicians.
-
-
The Best Book By The Smartest Guy in the Room
- By Dave on 10-20-11
By: Thomas Sowell
-
C. S. Lewis
- Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces
- By: C. S. Lewis
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 38 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is an extensive collection of short essays and other pieces by C. S. Lewis that have been brought together in one volume for the first time. As well as his many books, letters, and poems, Lewis also wrote a great number of essays and shorter pieces on various subjects. He wrote extensively on Christian theology and the defense of faith but also on various ethical issues and on the nature of literature and storytelling. In this essay collection we find a treasure trove of Lewis' reflections on diverse topics.
-
-
Here is the missing Table of Contents
- By R. Valerius on 06-14-16
By: C. S. Lewis
-
The Great Reset
- And the War for the World
- By: Alex Jones
- Narrated by: Joe Kredjetti
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you really want to know what’s happening in the world, this is the one book you must hear now. Alex Jones is the most censored man on the planet and you should ask yourself why that is. There is a powerful authoritarian takeover in process that is seeking to capture the entire human system and turn it into an artificial factory farm controlled system. We are in a war for the future of the world. In this book, you will hear from the world’s elites, from their own mouths, what they are planning for you and your families and you will learn what you can do to fight it.
-
-
Great Content - Narrator Not Alex
- By Reader on 10-18-22
By: Alex Jones
-
Race Marxism
- The Truth About Critical Race Theory and Praxis
- By: James Lindsay
- Narrated by: James Lindsay
- Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Critical race theory is one of the hottest and most controversial topics in the world today, but what is it, really? Rightly understood, critical race theory is a reinvention of an older, terrible idea, Marxism, using race "as the central construct for understanding inequality" in place of economic class. That is, critical race theory is race Marxism. The evidence of this claim is so overwhelming upon even casual examination that it is a shock that it isn't immediately plain to everyone who encounters it.
-
-
Lindsay has done the work
- By Ashley King on 08-02-22
By: James Lindsay
What listeners say about The Communist
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Watson
- 02-09-25
The research and context.
The author writes an engaging biography of a person who influenced a future POTUS, but whose Communist ideology was kept hidden from most of the public. It’s a fascinating indictment of the mainstream media and BIG biographies of that POTUS, and further proof that freedom of the press is not to be found in large media outlets. The story of FMD would stand on its own merits as a fellow traveler in the communist socialist march through the institutions.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- suffrin' bastid
- 05-22-15
One of the most important books you could read.
Any additional comments?
There's a lot of clear, undeniable truth in here, and it is profoundly disturbing. Unfortunately, the people who need to read it the most won't. It tells too much about who is running our country, and where they're running it to.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- StBarth
- 03-01-21
MUST READING Especially now.
Staggering and stunning how the COMMUNIST is alive and moving on our country. Frank Marshall Davis is still destroying the USA. Through his acolytes.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Bruce B
- 06-11-14
A story every American should know
Any additional comments?
The Communists/Progressives set an agenda at the beginning of the 20th Century. Bit by bit they set the stage for dismantling America. Now all of their dreams are being realized with the election of Obama. This is the story of those who he has been associated with, and who he has brought to Washington to "fundamentally transform" this country.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tiresmoker
- 05-02-20
Excellent summary of Communism in the U.S.
Outstanding and interesting biography of the man most influential to our country's first red diaper president.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mike
- 09-17-12
So that's where Obama got many of his ideas!
I was surprised to see the Chicago/Hawaii connection in the relationship between Frank Davis and Barack Obama. The book also explains why Obama tries to keep his academic career secret.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joe Bloggs
- 12-09-12
Insightful
Any additional comments?
Who Frank Marshal Davis was is a matter of record. Nobody would give a rats butt about this guy if it wasn't for the fact that he was a role model and mentor to Obama. It's quite clear to any thinking person that Obama is and was a Marxist, and that he was heavily influenced by Frank.
What does all this mean? Let me answer my own question with another question: What would it mean if Vladimir Lennon or Joseph Stalin were POTUS? Obama isn't those men, but he believes the same things they believed, as did Frank Marshal Davis.
First of all you need a really big crisis. Then you get "temporary" powers to deal with the crisis. But then you don't give those powers back, and who can make you give them back? Nobody. Will this work in United States? I'm afraid that's not going to be a theoretical question much longer.
But back to the book, It's engaging, readable, insightful and chocked full of information. It does at times get difficult to keep the cast of Communist characters straight. The book is so based in facts that at times it's difficult to draw the lines as to what it all means for yourself, but the author eventually gets around to telling us. Like why the move to Hawaii? He eventually gets around to telling us that was a Moscow initiative, but not for a while. So I'm here wondering for a long time, "Ok, tell me why the sudden move to Hawaii!!" It's sort of like someone telling you a trivia question and then not getting around to telling you the answer for a long time. Just tell me. I don't freaking know the answer if you don't tell me.
The author stops short of drawing conclusions about certain things, but you can figure these out for yourself, usually. We don't all have the towering intellect to immediately draw the necessary conclusions without someone pointing them out. Like the David Axelrod, Valerie Jarrot connection. All have commi parents that knew each other and such, so what is the connection? Obviously the Commi's are a small community that sticks together, but is there a deeper plot? It's this sort of failure to draw the lines that I find frustrating. But factual journalism doesn't seem to allow for a conclusion to be drawn. Only a question can be asked. Well, Mr. Professor - draw the damn conclusion please because the rest of us are left wondering what the heck it is you are getting at.
Although the book focuses on Frank the Communist, and mentions that he wrote a book called Sex Rebel, it fails to give more than a single dimension of Frank. Frank was an angry black man, but unlike the vast majority of black people, this man was a Communist. It would have been nice to include more of the personal side of Frank. I don't feel like I have a complete picture of the man. Maybe there isn't much more that that though. He's a poet, a writer, a Communist loyal to mother Russia. Perhaps it's not possible to get an accurate picture of a man like Frank for a lot of reasons: He's dead and anyone who knew him is either old, dead or motivated to lie about who he was.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 08-02-21
Great book telling who Obama really is.
Loved it
Tells the truth about Barrack Hussain Obama mentor. Marxist dog unfit anti America
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!