Jon Favreau

White House Speechwriter (since January 2009)

(Lois Raimondo/TWP)

Why He Matters

Favreau might have one of the most difficult jobs in President Barack Obama's office. The wunderkind is charged with writing speeches for a politician considered one of the best speakers of his generation.

Obama likes to have a hand in his speech writing, so Favreau (or "Favs," as Obama calls him) is more of a speech arranger than a speech writer. He sits with Obama for 30 minutes at a time and writes down everything the president says. Then, he sits down and writes, gets edits from Obama and writes some more.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Chief speechwriter for Barack Obama (since January 2005); Assistant to Sen. John F. Kerry's presidential campaign (2003-2004)
Hometown: North Reading, Mass.
Alma Mater: Holy Cross, B.A., 2003

Spouse: Single
Web site

Path to Power

Favreau grew up in North Reading, Mass., and graduated from Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. In Worcester, he started a project to defend welfare recipients, and he interned in John F. Kerry's (D-Mass) Senate office during college.

During the summer, he impressed everyone in the office, writing dozens of editorials. "[Kerry's aides] told me that this Favreau kid was really incredible," said Gar DeAngelis, who led the program at Holy Cross. "They said nobody on the staff could write as well as this kid. Why try?"

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Kerry Campaign

After graduating valedictorian of his class in 2003, he joined the Kerry presidential campaign. At first, his job was simply to accumulate radio stories about Kerry from the previous day and compile them overnight so senior staff could listen to them first thing in the morning.

When the Kerry campaign began to struggle in the fall of 2003, the senator was forced to cut staff. Favreau survived the cuts and then fell into a job as deputy speechwriter. "They couldn't find anyone who wanted to come in when we were about to lose to [Howard] Dean. So I became deputy speechwriter, even though I had no previous experience." But Kerry surprised Dean in Iowa and eventually earned the Democratic nomination.

Meeting Obama

Favreau met Barack Obama at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Obama was backstage, rehearsing the keynote address that launched him to the national stage, and Favreau, then 23, gave him some advice. ''He kind of looked at me, kind of confused - like, 'Who is this kid?'" Favreau said.

After Kerry lost, Robert Gibbs, who was Obama's communications director, asked Favreau to interview with Obama for a speechwriting position. Gibbs worked on the Kerry campaign and remembered Favreau. During the interview, Obama asked Favreau to define his speechwriting philosophy. "I didn't have a grand theory," Favreau said, "but I told him, 'When I saw you at the convention what really struck me was that you told a story from the beginning to the end of that speech - a story about your life, about how it fit in with the larger American story - and it built to a point where people wanted to applaud, rather than using forced applause lines. Democrats just haven't done that.' And Barack said, 'That's exactly what I try to do.'"

Favreau said he didn't expect Obama to run for president, and he figured he would work in the office for a couple of years and then use his Truman scholarship to go to law school. But that plan changed when Obama announced his candidacy in February 2007. "I'd learned that campaigns take so much of your life," he said, "your sanity, your relationships, all that kind of stuff. But with Obama, when he decided to run for president, I said, 'I'm going to take a shot on this guy.' I knew how hard it would be, but it seemed worth it." As Obama moved deeper into presidential campaign mode, speechwriters Adam Frankel and Ben Rhodes were hired to work with Favreau. Set to move into the White House as the youngest chief speechwriter in U.S. history, Favreau hired a handful of other writers to work on his team.

The Issues

Favreau writes speeches for a man known as one of the best orators of his generation, a task he describes as being "like Ted Williams' batting coach."

Before meeting Favreau, Obama had already written two books and his speech for the 2004 DNC. Favreau says he writes down everything Obama says. Before a speech, the two will sit together for 30 minutes and Obama will talk about the things he wants to say. "I type everything he says. I reshape it. I write. He writes. He reshapes it. That's how we get a finished product," Favreau says. "It's a great way to write speeches."

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Obama does a lot of his speechwriting himself, more than most politicians. He wrote his famous speech about race in America after the release of video clips from sermons by Obama's pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, significantly threatened Obama's chances. And Obama stayed up late many nights writing his acceptance speech for the Democratic Party nomination.

But Obama can't write every speech - not even every important speech - and there's plenty of work for Favreau. Favreau says he studies the speeches of Robert Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. in addition to Obama's words.

A few days before the Iowa caucuses, Favreau and Obama had one of their sessions to discuss the upcoming speech. They settled on a theme and the opening line - "They said this day would never come" - to use whether Obama came in first, second or third. ''I knew that it would have multiple meanings to multiple people,'' he said. ''Barack and I talked about it, and it was one that worked for the campaign. There were many months during the campaign when they said he'd never win. And of course there was the day that would never come, when an African-American would be winning the first primary in a white state.''

The Iowa speech brought Favreau national attention from politicians and political writers. Michael Gerson, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, congratulated Favreau, and his friends on the campaign made fun of the attention he was getting.

But it wasn't the first important speech Favreau had written for Obama. In December 2006, speculation was growing about whether Obama would run for president. ABC's Monday Night Football asked the Illinois lawmaker to introduce a game between Obama's hometown Bears and the St. Louis Rams.

Favreau came up with the idea for the introduction and the campaign put out word that Obama would make a big announcement during the telecast. "I'm here tonight to answer some questions about a very important contest that's been weighing on the minds of the American people - a contest about the future; a contest that will ultimately be decided in America's heartland." he said. "Tonight, I'd like to put all the doubts to rest. I'd like to announce to my hometown of Chicago and all of America that I am ready" - he paused to put on a Bears hat - "for the Bears to go all the way, baby." (Later that season, they nearly did, losing to the Colts in the Super Bowl.)

State of the Union

Favreau has been the main hand behind the president's annual address to Congress. In January 2011, the White House released a behind-the-scenes video about the crafting of the traditional speech.

The Network

Favreau hasn't worked in Washington for long, but he's worked for the right people. He started on Sen. John F. Kerry's (D-Mass.) presidential campaign in 2004, where he met communications director Robert Gibbs . After Kerry lost, Gibbs, who had since moved into Sen. Barack Obama's office, asked Favreau to work for Obama . He now leads a speechwriting office that includes Adam Frankel and Ben Rhodes , as well as others.

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