Jon Favreau reflects on his service as a speechwriter for Barack Obama, which included work in Obama's U.S. senate office, on the Obama 2008 presidential campaign, and as director of speechwriting from 2009 to 2013 in the Obama White House. Favreau describes the process by which he learned to channel and capture Obama's voice, recounts significant moments from the 2008 campaign cycle, and provides details about the writing of major speeches, including the 2007 Jefferson-Jackson Dinner speech, the March 2008 "race speech" in Philadelphia, the 2008 victory speech, the first and second inaugural addresses, the lecture at Obama's receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize, Obama's addresses to joint sessions of Congress about healthcare reform in September 2009 and the American Jobs Act in September 2011, and the December 2011 speech in Osawatomie, Kansas. Favreau also discusses the administration's communications strategy around major policy initiatives, such as the financial crisis and economic stimulus, healthcare reform, and climate and energy policy, and reflects on the difficulties of translating technical or complex circumstances into memorable stories and accessible language. Also discussed are the asymmetric polarization of domestic politics, developments in the media landscape during the Obama years, the significance of the civil rights movement in Obama's vision of America, the function of speeches as forcing mechanisms for the administration, and the major ideas, stories, and arguments that were central to Obama's messaging
Health care reform--United States; Presidents--Messages.--United States; Presidential campaigns--United States; Presidents--Inauguration.--United States; Global Financial Crisis, 2008-2009--United States; Communication policy--United States; Climatic changes--Government policy--United States; Energy policy--United States; Favreau, Jon; Obama, Barack; White House Editorial and Speechwriting Office (U.S.)
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2020
Physical Description
183 pages
Note (Biographical)
Jonathan Favreau served as a staffer in President Obama's senate office, as a speechwriter for candidate Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign, and as the director of speechwriting for President Barack Obama during his first term in office. In J anuary 2017, he co-founded Crooked Media with fellow former Obama staffers Tommy Vietor and Jon Lovett, and began co-hosting the political podcast Pod Save America
Note
Interviewed by by Dov Weinryb Grohsgal on May 21, September 1, and December 1, 2020. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Jon Favreau, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2022