Finding Grace in Politics with Former White House Speechwriter Cody Keenan

Cultural Mixtapes

I read Barack Obama’s memoir A Promised Land when it first came out in November of 2020. That time was filled with rampant polarization, multiple quaratines, alternative realities, an insurrection, and politics that was so messy it was near impossible to find any hope and see America as this Promised Land that Obama wrote about.

Thinking about the American Project is quite difficult in today’s contested landscape. Zooming out to find moments that define the beauties of American Democracy, amidst the onslaught of political punditry, and a seemingly catatonic congress, is a constant struggle. But sometimes the key is to look for moments of GRACE, within the chaos; little signs that reaffirm that America is indeed A Promised Land.

Cody Keenan’s new book does just that. Cody was a Speechwriter in the Obama White House, and joined the campaign in 2007. He was later promoted to Director of Speechwriting, and held the position through the end of Obama’s second term. Cody is now working as a Partner at Fenway Strategies, a speechwriting and communications firm, and also teaches at Northwestern University.

His book GRACE: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America, which is out in paperback today, details 10 days in 2015 that give us a vivid picture of America: the wonderful highs, the horrific lows, and all the beautiful strangeness in between. The ten days begin with a racist massacre on June 17th at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, which led to 9 dead, including the church’s pastor. The central question in the book is whether or not Barack Obama should speak at the Pastor’s Funeral.

However the ten days also included decisions from the Supreme Court, which decided the fates of Marriage Equality and the Affordable Care Act. Everything changed in the White House when a few days after the shooting, the families of the victims, decided to forgive the killer in open court, which was broadcast on live TV. These ten days tested the strength of the American Project, and Keenan’s book explores the ways in which they found grace amidst the chaos and the ways in which we can continue to find grace in politics.

Our conversation started with Keenan’s beginnings in politics, working in the mailroom for Senator Ted Kennedy. But we jump between the past and the present, the events of the book and issues still plaguing us today such as gun control and climate change, in an attempt to find moments of Grace in our politics today and reaffirm America as The Promised Land that it can be.

Cody's Website

Recommendations

Surrender by Bono

The Bear

The Diplomat