Jon Favreau (speechwriter)

This article is about the speechwriter and podcaster. For the actor and filmmaker, see Jon Favreau.

Jon Favreau
Favreau in 2017
White House Director of Speechwriting
In office
January 20, 2009 – March 1, 2013
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byMarc Thiessen
Succeeded byCody Keenan
Personal details
Born
Jonathan Edward Favreau

(1981-06-02) June 2, 1981 (age 43)
Winchester, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Emily Black Favreau
​
(m. 2017)​
Children2
EducationCollege of the Holy Cross (BA)

Jonathan Edward Favreau[1] (/ˈfævroʊ/; born June 2, 1981)[2] is an American progressive political commentator, podcaster, and the former director of speechwriting for President Barack Obama.[3][4][5]

After graduating from the College of the Holy Cross as valedictorian,[6] Favreau worked for the John Kerry presidential campaign in 2004, working to collect talk radio news for the campaign and was promoted to the role of Deputy Speechwriter.[7] Favreau first met Barack Obama, then a state senator from Illinois, while working on the Kerry campaign.

In 2005, Obama's communications director Robert Gibbs recommended Favreau to Obama as a speechwriter.[8] Favreau was hired as Obama's speechwriter shortly after Obama's election to the United States Senate. Obama and Favreau grew close, and Obama 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 to the White House staff as Director of Speechwriting.[9]

After starting the well received and Grassroots podcast “Keeping it 1600” via “The Ringer” media group in March of 2017, he co-founded liberal media company Crooked Media with fellow former Obama staffers Tommy Vietor and Jon Lovett, and began co-hosting the political podcast Pod Save America with Vietor, Lovett, and Dan Pfeiffer.[10]

  1. ^ Caywood, Thomas (January 27, 2008). "Mass. gift to Obama; HC valedictorian Favreau is top speechwriter". The Free Library. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT 2008-12-05 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "President-Elect Barack Obama names two new White House staff members". The Office of the President-Elect. Archived from the original on November 26, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2009.
  4. ^ d'Ancona, Matthew (December 6, 2012). "Jon Favreau has the world's best job". GQ. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
  5. ^ Jaffe, Greg (July 24, 2016). "Washington Post: Which Obama speech is one for the history books?". Concord Monitor. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  6. ^ "Unseen but heard – Meet Obama's speechwriter". Georgian Journal. January 18, 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  7. ^ "Three lessons in storytelling" (PDF). NIMD. Retrieved January 29, 2010.
  8. ^ Glenn, Cheryl (2011). The Harbrace Guide to Writing, Concise. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. ISBN 9780495913993.
  9. ^ "The Complete Obama Speech Archive". Archived from the original on May 18, 2010. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  10. ^ Rutenberg, Jim (March 20, 2017). "Opposition and a Shave: Former Obama Aides Counter Trump". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 22, 2017.