Cody Keenan: Obama's New Speechwriter

Impact

For the first time in eight years someone other than Jon Favreau will serve as the lead speechwriter for President Obama. The newest lead speechwriter is 32 year old Cody Keenan. Keenan is not a newcomer to the Obama administration though. He joined the staff in 2007 as an intern under Jon Favreau and served as a speechwriter during the 2008 campaign.

In 2007 Keenan worked with the president on his speech delivered at the Tucson Memorial service for the victims of the mass shooting that took place there. Though Obama himself is a speechwriter, one can imagine that the work of the president can make it difficult to write a speech. In a post for The Wall Street Journal, a video is referenced where Keenan says “He likes it” after presenting the president a draft last week.