Elliott Maraniss on home leave in Ann Arbor with wife Mary in 1944 before heading to Camp Lee, Virginia, to command an all-black salvage and repair unit in the still-segregated U.S. Army. (Courtesy Simon & Schuster)

David Maraniss has written acclaimed biographies of Roberto Clemente, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. In a new book, he turns his biographer’s eye to his father’s experiences during the Red Scare.

A new biography explores President Obama's past. We talk with the author of Barack Obama: The Story.