Cody Keenan

Cody Keenan


White House Director of Speechwriting
Incumbent
Assumed office March 1, 2013
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Jon Favreau
Personal details
Born	1980/1981 (age 35–36)^[1] Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Kristen Bartoloni
Alma mater	Northwestern University Harvard University

Cody Keenan is a speechwriter, and the current Director of Speechwriting for President Barack Obama. Keenan studied political science at Northwestern University. After graduation he worked in the senate office of Ted Kennedy, before studying for a master's in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. After graduation he took a full-time position on the Barack Obama presidential campaign in 2008. In 2009 he took on the position of Deputy Director of Speechwriting; after Jon Favreau left the White House in 2013, Keenan took over as Director of Speechwriting.

Early life and education

Keenan's parents were both advertising executives,^[2] who lived in Lake View, Chicago before moving to Evanston, Illinois, Wilmette, Illinois,^[2] and later Fairfield County, Connecticut, where Keenan attended high school.^[3] Keenan attended Northwestern University,^[4] beginning as a pre-medical student, hoping to become an Orthopedic surgeon, but changed his major to Chinese, international studies, and finally political science,^[2] graduating in 2002.^[5]

Career history

Keenan works with speechwriters Ben Rhodes, and Jon Favreau, with President Obama in the Oval Office in February 2013

Early career

Keenan's political career began with an internship in the mailroom of Ted Kennedy's senate office in 2003, before going on to become the senator's legislative aide.^[6] After a stint as a staff assistant for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee,^[4] Keenan took a master's degree in public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, studying speechwriting and delivery under Steve Jarding.^[7] In 2007, Keenan took a summer internship in speechwriting on Barack Obama's presidential campaign, working under Jon Favreau,^[8] before returning to the Kennedy school to complete the second year of his studies.^[9] He remained involved in the campaign during the year, flying to Iowa during the Christmas break to assist in preparation for the Iowa caucuses.^[10] After Hillary Clinton conceded in June 2008, Keenan returned as a full-time staffer on Obama's presidential campaign.^[4]^[9]^[11]

White House staffer

After the election, Keenan continued in the role, as Deputy Director of Speechwriting, working on a speech about the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act,^[10] the President's eulogy for Ted Kennedy in 2009,^[9] and the President's address after the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords in 2011,^[5] among other speeches. He appeared in a visual gag for the 2009 White House Correspondents' Dinner, dressed as a pirate.^[12] Prior to Favreau's departure from the White House in March 2013, Keenan took the lead on writing the State of the Union in January 2013.^[13]

In March 2013, Keenan was promoted to White House Director of Speechwriting,^[4] with overall responsibility for all speechwriting. Writing in The New York Times, Michael S. Schmidt, noted that unlike Favreau, "who was known for his ability to write lofty, big-picture speeches ... Mr. Keenan focuses far more on individual, hard-work stories as parables for what is difficult but still possible in America."^[3] In 2015, Keenan wrote the speech delivered by Obama to mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.^[14]

In June 2015, Keenan gave a commencement address to the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.^[15]

References

↑ "Cody Keenan, Obama's Chief Speechwriter: Chicago-Born and (Mostly) Bred".
1 2 3 Stein, Lisa. "Cody Keenan has words for the President". Crosscurrents Magazine. Northwestern University. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
1 2 Schmidt, Michael S. (January 19, 2015). "State of the Union Speechwriter for Obama Draws on Various Inspirations". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
1 2 3 4 Weiner, Rachel (February 12, 2013). "Speechwriter Cody Keenan takes lead on State of the Union". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
1 2 Skiba, Katherine (January 13, 2011). "Chicago native helped Obama find his voice in Tucson speech". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
↑ Felsenthal, Carol (February 19, 2013). "Cody Keenan, Obama's Chief Speechwriter: Chicago-Born and (Mostly) Bred". Chicago. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
↑ Nawaguna, Elvina (January 28, 2014). "The 'fearless' speech writer behind Obama's State of Union address". Chicago Tribune. Reuters. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
↑ "The right Cody for the job". The Washington Post. January 14, 2011. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
1 2 3 Kohut, Matt (January 11, 2010). "Alumnus Cody Keenan MPP 2008: White House Wordsmith". John F. Kennedy School of Government. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
1 2 Superville, Darlene (May 26, 2013). "Cody Keenan Speechwriter: Chicago Native Rose From Unpaid Intern To Presidential Wordsmith". The Huffington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
↑ McCain Nelson, Colleen (February 12, 2013). "Meet Cody Keenan, Obama's New Top Speechwriter". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
↑ Knoller, Mark (May 12, 2009). "White House Back-Story: The President And The Pirate". CBS News. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
↑ Franke-Ruta, Garance (February 12, 2013). "Who Is Cody Keenan, Obama's SOTU Speechwriter?". The Atlantic. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
↑ Jaffe, Greg (June 3, 2015). "President Obama and American exceptionalism". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
↑ Keenan, Cody (June 16, 2015). "Cody Keenan to Public Service Grads: Be Afraid to Fail". Time. Retrieved September 2, 2015.

External links

Media related to Cody Keenan at Wikimedia Commons

Barack Obama's Executive Office of the President

Office	Name	Term	Office	Name	Term
White House Chief of Staff White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy	Rahm Emanuel Pete Rouse William M. Daley Jack Lew Denis McDonough Mona Sutphen Nancy-Ann DeParle Rob Nabors	2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013– 2009–11 2011–13 2013–15	National Security Advisor Deputy National Security Advisor Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan	Jim Jones Thomas E. Donilon Susan Rice Thomas E. Donilon Denis McDonough Tony Blinken Avril Haines Douglas Lute^†	2009–10 2010–13 2013– 2009–10 2010–13 2013–14 2015– 2009–13
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations	Jim Messina Alyssa Mastromonaco Anita Decker Breckenridge	2009–11 2011–14 2014–	Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security	Ben Rhodes John O. Brennan Lisa Monaco	2009– 2009–13 2013–
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Planning	Mark B. Childress Kristie Canegallo	2012–14 2014–	Deputy National Security Advisor and NSC Chief of Staff	Denis McDonough Brooke Anderson	2009–10 2011–12
Senior Advisor to the President	David Axelrod David Plouffe Daniel Pfeiffer Shailagh Murray	2009–11 2011–13 2013–15 2015–	White House Communications Director	Anita Dunn Daniel Pfeiffer Jennifer Palmieri Jen Psaki	2009 2009–13 2013–15 2015–
Senior Advisor to the President Counselor to the President	Pete Rouse Brian Deese Pete Rouse John Podesta	2009–10 2015– 2011–13 2014–15	Deputy White House Communications Director	Jen Psaki Jennifer Palmieri Amy Brundage	2009–11 2011–14 2014–15
Senior Advisor to the President and Assistant to the President for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs Director of Public Engagement Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Director, National Economic Council	Valerie Jarrett Christina Tchen Jon Carson Paulette Aniskoff Cecilia Muñoz David Agnew Jerry Abramson Lawrence Summers Gene Sperling Jeffrey Zients	2009– 2009–11 2011–13 2013– 2009–12 2012–14 2014– 2009–10 2011–14 2014–	White House Press Secretary Deputy Press Secretary Director of Special Projects Director of Speechwriting White House Counsel	Robert Gibbs Jay Carney Josh Earnest Bill Burton Josh Earnest Eric Schultz Stephanie Cutter Jon Favreau Cody Keenan Greg Craig Robert Bauer Kathryn Ruemmler Neil Eggleston	2009–11 2011–13 2013– 2009–11 2011–13 2014– 2010–11 2009–13 2013– 2009–10 2010–11 2011–14 2014–
Deputy Director, National Economic Council Deputy Director, National Economic Council Chair of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board	Diana Farrell Brian Deese Jason Furman Paul Volcker	2009–11 2011–13 2009–13 2009–11	Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs	Phil Schiliro Rob Nabors Miguel Rodriguez Katie Beirne Fallon	2009–11 2011–13 2013 2013–
Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors	Christina Romer Austan Goolsbee Jason Furman	2009–10 2010–13 2013–	Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs	Lisa Konwinski Amy Rosenbaum	2009– 2014–
Member of the Council of Economic Advisors	Katharine Abraham	2011–	Executive Clerk	George T. Saunders^† David Kalbaugh	2009–12 2012–
Member of the Council of Economic Advisors	Cecilia Rouse	2009–	Director, Office of Political Affairs	Patrick Gaspard David Simas	2009–11 2013–
Director, Office of Management and Budget	Peter R. Orszag Jack Lew Jeffrey Zients Sylvia Mathews Burwell Brian Deese Shaun Donovan	2009–10 2010–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014 2014–	Chief Technology Officer Chief Information Officer	Aneesh Chopra Todd Park Megan Smith Vivek Kundra Steven VanRoekel Tony Scott	2009–12 2012–14 2014– 2009–11 2011–14 2015–
Chief Performance Officer and Deputy Director for Management, Office of Management and Budget	Jeffrey Zients	2009–13	Director, Office of Presidential Personnel	Nancy Hogan Johnathan McBride Valerie Green	2010–14 2014–15 2015–
Deputy Director, Office of Management and Budget	Jeffrey Liebman Heather Higginbottom Brian Deese	2010 2011–13 2013–15	Director of Scheduling and Advance Director, White House Military Office	Alyssa Mastromonaco Danielle White Crutchfield George D. Mulligan Jr. Emmett Beliveau	2009–11 2011– 2009–13 2013–
United States Trade Representative	Ron Kirk Michael Froman	2009–13 2013–	Cabinet Secretary	Chris Lu Broderick Johnson	2009–13 2013–
Director, Domestic Policy Council	Melody Barnes Cecilia Muñoz	2009–12 2012–	Deputy Cabinet Secretary	Liz Sears Smith Rachana Bhowmik Michael Robertson Gaurab Bansal	2009–11 2011–13 2013–15 2015–
Deputy Director, Domestic Policy Council	Heather Higginbottom Mark Zuckerman	2009–11 2011–	Staff Secretary	Lisa Brown Rajesh De Douglas Kramer Joani Walsh	2009–11 2011–12 2012–13 2014–
Director, Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships	Joshua DuBois Melissa Rogers	2009–2013 2013–	Assistant to the President for Management and Administration	Bradley Kiley Katy Kale Maju Varghese	2009–13 2013–15 2015–
Director, Office of Health Reform	Nancy-Ann DeParle	2009–11	Director, Oval Office Operations	Micaela Fernandez Brian Mosteller	2009–12 2012–
Deputy Director, Office of Health Reform	Jeanne Lambrew	2009–2011	Personal Aide to the President	Reggie Love Marvin Nicholson	2009–11 2011–
Director, Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy	Carol Browner	2009–11	Personal Secretary to the President	Katie Johnson Anita Decker Breckenridge Ferial Govashiri	2009–11 2011–14 2014–
Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change	Heather Zichal Dan Utech	2009–2013 2013–	Special Projects Coordinator and Confidential Assistant to the President	Eugene Kang	2009–11
Director, Council on Environmental Quality	Nancy Sutley Michael Boots	2009–2014 2014–	Director, Office of National AIDS Policy	Jeffrey Crowley Grant Cofax Douglas Brooks	2009–2011 2012–2014 2014–
Chief of Staff to the First Lady	Jackie Norris Susan Sher Christina Tchen	2009 2009–10 2011–	Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy	Gil Kerlikowske Michael Botticelli	2009–14 2014–
White House Social Secretary	Desirée Rogers Julianna Smoot Jeremy Bernard Deesha Dyer	2009–10 2010–11 2011–15 2015–	Director, Office of Urban Affairs	Adolfo Carrión Jr. Racquel Russell	2009–2010 2010–
Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy	John Holdren	2009–

^*Senate-confirmation pending. †Remained from previous administration (s).

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