Since President Barack Obama first launched his campaign for the White House, many have tried to understand what forces drive his ambitions and decisions for the country.

Some claim the president is a socialist. Others feel Obama may be motivated by the American civil rights struggle, his roots as a community organizer, or the influences of left-leaning professors at Columbia University and Harvard Law School.

But in his new book, "The Roots of Obama's Rage," author Dinesh D'Souza says that in order to understand what drives Obama, people must first understand his father, Barack Obama, Sr.

The controversial book is now on the New York Times best-sellers list. D'Souza says its purpose is to expose the mindset behind Obama's often confusing and unnerving decisions as president.

Dinesh D'Souza discussed 'The Roots of Obama's Rage' on The 700 Club, Thursday, Oct. 7. Click play to watch the interview.

Although President Obama's father abandoned him at a young age, D'Souza argues that his mother cultivated in him a mythic image of his dad as a great man of Africa.

"But then Obama discovered in his teen years that his father wasn't such a great guy. He was an alcoholic. He killed a man in an accident. He was a polygamist who had multiple wives, eight children he never cared for," D'Souza told CBN News.

"So Obama had a let down. So he said, 'Let me go to Africa for myself to find out about my dad,'" he explained. "And in a climactic scene, Obama goes to his father's grave, he weeps, he cries, he throws himself on the ground."

D'Souza claims Obama's deep personal history and the desire to live by the ideals of his father make him a stranger to America's Judeo-Christian principles. 

Originally broadcast October 8, 2010.