Washington, October 02: Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography and his teachings on social justice through non-violence have helped US President Barack Obama shape his life, a senior US official has said.
“Barack Obama, first African-American President and a student of those principles, identifies Gandhi’s autobiography and Taylor Branch’s terrific three-part biography of (Martin Luther) King as works that helped shape him,” said Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia.
“The President has repeatedly noted that Gandhi and King were among his heroes,” he said while delivering the 27th Annual Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Lecture at San Diego State University in California.
Earlier this month, Blake had said, Washington was abuzz with unveiling of the new Oval Office decorations ? a tradition that follows the election of each new President.
–Agencies