Two Nobel Prizes

An interesting anecdote appears in Barack Obama’s recently-published memoir, A Promised Hope.

He recalls the day, a Friday, October 9, 2009, when he was stunned to learn that the Nobel Peace Prize Committee’s members, meeting in Oslo, Norway, announced that they had selected him.

When told of the honor, Obama was incredulous. “For what?” he asked.

The committee’s members explained that they had selected him, “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people, and for his promotion of nuclear nonproliferation.”

They were most impressed that he ke...