Barack Obama's personal story infused tour of Asia

It was the final stop on a trip that has notably lacked concrete achievements but has seen Obama's personal narrative on full display, as he reminisced about the ice cream he ate during a childhood visit to Japan, invoked his “historic ties” to Indonesia and recalled his mother's work in the villages of Southeast Asia. After more than a week of using his biography to connect to audiences in Asia — perhaps the last corner of the globe where he had yet to take his story — Obama appeared as popular as ever among the ordinary citizens who watched his trip.

But is his biography-as-diplomacy approach beginning to show its limits?

Obama does not fly home with any big breakthroughs or any evidence that he has forged stronger personal ties with leaders in the region. Even at ground level, there was no Asian equivalent of the Cairo speech — when he spoke to the Muslim world in the summer, invoking his father's Islamic heritage in an effort to connect with a population that had previously felt disrespected by U.S. leaders.

During the presidential campaign, Obama's narrative helped catapult him into the Oval Office as a leader who could bridge racial and regional divides. Since becoming president, he has used that message to greatest effect abroad — talking about his African roots in Ghana and infusing remarks about race relations in Latin America with his own experience, among other examples.

At home, critics have accused him of being self-indulgent by viewing the world through such a personal lens. The question that may soon follow, however, is whether his “only in America” tale will yield the cooperation he seeks from foreign leaders, rather than just popular goodwill and curiosity.

White House officials say the payoff is evident. “One of his strengths on the world stage is that he is breaking down the sense that America and America's leaders don't have any understanding of or identification with the rest of the world,” senior Obama adviser David Axelrod said. “And that's an important value.”

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