Fiona Reeves discusses her contribution to the presidential correspondence of the Obama administration, in which she served in a variety of positions in the Office of Presidential Correspondence, culminating in her service as special assistant to the president and director of presidential correspondence from 2013 to 2017. Reeves outlines the structure, organization, and function of the Office of Pr esidential Correspondence, and characterizes the letters the office received, including their major themes, topics, and changes in response to major current events or legislative initiatives. Reeves provides details about the procedures by which the office responded to correspondence, including the assignment of caseworkers to particular incoming requests, coordination with relevant agencies to ensure letters were read by relevant authorities, and the daily selection of ten representative letters for President Obama's personal consumption. Also discussed are the powerful emotional content of presidential correspondence, the impact on letter-writers of direct engagement with the administration, the significance of individual stories and policy recommendations for the development of the Obama administration's public policy. Reeves served as a field organizer for the Obama campaign during both the 2008 Democratic primary and general election, and reflects on the energy of the campaign and its camaraderie, the organizing and outreach tactics employed by the campaign in several primary states, and the significance of Obama's race in various primary states
Presidents--United States; Presidential campaigns--United States; Reeves, Fiona; Obama, Barack; United States. White House Office of Correspondence and Presidential Messages
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2021
Physical Description
49 pages
Note (Biographical)
Fiona Reeves held a number of positions in the Obama presidential campagn and in his adminstration. Her last position was special assistant to the president and director of presidential correspondence between June 2013 and January 2017. Other position s she held include principal deputy director of presidential correspondence; director of writing for the Office of Presidential Correspondence; analyst and senior writer for the Office of Presidential Correspondence; and field organizer and deputy regional field director, Obama for America, between June 2007 and November 2008. At the time of the interview, Reeves was the senior manager for correspondence at Pivotal Ventures
Note
Interviewed by Mary Marshall Clark on March 8, 2021. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Fiona O. Reeves, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2022