Cody Keenan

Keenan's parents were both advertising executives^[5] who lived in Lake View, Chicago, before moving to Evanston, Illinois, Wilmette, Illinois,^[5] and later Ridgefield, Fairfield County, Connecticut, where Keenan attended high school.^[6] Keenan attended Northwestern University,^[7] where he majored in political science,^[5] graduating in 2002.^[8] Keenan is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and recipient of its Significant Sig award.^[9]

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.^[10] After a stint as a staff assistant for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee,^[7] Keenan took a master's degree in public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, studying speechwriting and delivery under Steve Jarding.^[11] In 2007, Keenan took a summer internship in speechwriting on Barack Obama's presidential campaign, working under Jon Favreau,^[12] before returning to the Kennedy School to complete the second year of his studies.^[13] He remained involved in the campaign during the year, flying to Iowa during the Christmas break to assist in preparation for the Iowa caucuses.^[14] After Hillary Clinton conceded in June 2008, Keenan returned as a full-time staffer on Obama's presidential campaign.^[7][13][15]

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,^[14] the president's eulogy for Ted Kennedy in 2009,^[13] and the president's address after the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords in 2011,^[8] among other speeches. He appeared in a visual gag for the 2009 White House Correspondents' Dinner, dressed as a pirate.^[16] Prior to Favreau's departure from the White House in March 2013, Keenan took the lead on writing the State of the Union Address in January 2013.^[17]

In March 2013, Keenan was promoted to White House director of speechwriting,^[7] 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."^[6] In 2015, Keenan wrote the speech delivered by Obama to mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.^[18] After leaving the White House in 2017, Keenan spent several more years writing with Barack Obama.^[19]

In June 2015, Keenan gave a commencement address to the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.^[20] In June 2018, Keenan delivered the convocation speech at his alma mater, Northwestern University.^[21]

Keenan is the author of a New York Times Best Seller, Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America (2022), which tells the story of “ten days of the presidency, in June 2015, when a racist massacre and two impending Supreme Court decisions put the character of our country on the line, and a President's words could bring the nation together or tear it apart.”^[22] In January 2023, the book was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction.^[23]

Keenan is a partner at the speechwriting firm Fenway Strategies,^[24] a visiting professor at Northwestern University,^[25] and sits on the board of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.