In the final installment of a four part series of how the candidates would govern, Margaret Warner interviews advisers and past colleagues of Senator Obama to examine how he has overcome adversity in the past. The report looks at the major setbacks Obama has faced in his political and personal lifetime including: his rocky childhood, his rise and failure in the Illinois state legislature, and his many ups and downs in his primary contest with Hillary Rodham Clinton. Obama is consistently categorized as someone who is calm under pressure and tries to learn from his defeats. We also look at how his campaign dealt with mounting pressure from the financial meltdown and the McCain campaign. Quotes "He just thought, by the power of his persona, the power of his message, the power of who he is that he could unseat this well-thought-of congressman on the South Side. And it just wasn't his turn. It wasn't his time." -David Mendell, Obama Biographer "That was probably the low point in his life. He went to the Democratic convention in Los Angeles and didn't have enough money on his credit card to rent a car." -David Mendell, Obama Biographer "This is a person who has been through disappointments many times in his life, starting with the departure of his father, and some of the tough times he went through, and picked himself up against the odds and got back into the fight." -Senator Dick Durbin (D), Illinois "The real question about Obama's temperament, I think, is not whether he can keep from panic mode or keep from going from one extreme to the other, but how much toughness is there, there when the real crunch point comes?" -Norman Ornstein, Political Analyst Warm Up Questions 1. How do you feel if you lose a game or argument? 2. How do you deal with disappointment? 3. What do you think the president of the United States should do if he doesn't get his way? Discussion Questions 1. What are some difficult things that Obama has gone through? How have those experiences changed him? Do you think they make him a better Presidential candidate? Why or why not? 2. Which story of adversity in Obama's life was the most interesting to you? Imagine how other people in your life would deal with similar circumstances. 3. Did this report make you think of adversity in a different way? Think of a time when you had to deal with a difficult problem in school, with your friends, or at home? How did you decide to handle it? Who did you talk to? 4. Review all the reports from this week here, here, and here. Do you think they were fair? What do they tell you about the choice in this election? Additional Resources Transcript of this report Vote 2008 Barack Obama: How does he decide? How does he lead?