What are the characteristics of Obama in Dreams from My Father?

I think that you can find many different answers to this particular question.  In the book, one can make the argument that one of Obama's characteristics is being pensive.  He displays a great deal of understanding and reflection about the issues of race and ethnicity and the role they play in the modern nation and social order.  Even if one were to disagree with his findings, one cannot debate the manner in which the questions are raised in the book are done so in a manner to inspire discussion, generating future thought.  Examine the passages where he discusses his own relationship with race, being of a Black father and a White mother, living with White grandparents, competing in a predominantly White professional setting, community organizing in a predominantly Black community, marrying a Black woman, and travelling back to Africa.  In each of these dynamics, the President offers a great deal within which to think and reflect, demonstrating his pensive nature.