Obama Speech Writer-Jonathan Favreau

Ever wonder who writes Barack Obama’s speeches?

Jonathan Favreau was born June 2, 1981, in Winchester, Massachusetts and writes President Barack Obama’s speeches. Favreau graduated as valedictorian of the College of the Holy Cross. After graduation, he went to work for the John Kerry Presidential campaign in 2004, working to collect talk radio news for the campaign, and eventually was promoted to the role of Deputy Speechwriter. While working for the Kerry campaign, he first met Barack Obama.

In 2005, Robert Gibbs, now Obama’s Press Secretary, recommended Jonathan Favreau to Barack Obama as an excellent speechwriter. Favreau was hired as Obama’s speechwriter shortly after Obama’s election to the United States Senate. Obama and Favreau grown close, and Obama has referred to him as his “mind reader”. He went on the campaign trail with Obama during his successful Presidential election campaign. In 2009, he was named as a White House staff member, as Director of Speech-writing, becoming the second youngest person ever to take that post.

Favreau has cited the speeches of Robert Kennedy and Michael Gerson as an influence on his works, and has stated that Peggy Noonan is his favorite speechwriter. Noonan’s speech that Ronald Reagan gave at Pointe du Hoc is Favreau’s favorite of her work. He was the primary writer of Obama’s inauguration address of January 2009.

On December 5, 2008, a picture of Favreau grabbing the breast of a cardboard cut-out of Hillary Clinton was posted on Facebook. The picture included one of his friends pulling back Senator Clinton’s head while forcing a beer bottle to her mouth. Favreau called Senator Clinton’s staff to offer an apology.

Favreau went away and spent weeks on research. His team interviewed historians and speech writers, studied periods of crisis, and listened to past inaugural orations. When ready, he took up residence in a Starbucks in Washington and wrote Barack’s inauguration speech. Obama then read it off the teleprompter.

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