For Cody Keenan, the chief speechwriter for former President Barack Obama, the main goal of his

work

is to fuel passion among his listeners. While he said there was no secret formula for the perfect speech,

cultivating emotion was necessary for success.

“I wanted to make people feel something—a sense of connecting, a sense of being heard, a sense of

common purpose,” he said.

Keenan spoke at Elon University on Feb. 25 as part of the university’s Liberal Arts Forum. He discussed

his journey to the White House and his personal experience working with Obama. Keenan talked about

his admiration for the former president and how he has learned a lot from him. While Keenan finds

speechwriting hard at times, he said he is glad to have worked with Obama.

“It was an exhausting 2,922 days in the White House,” he said. “I was fortunate to have worked with

somebody who viewed speechwriting as a craft.”

Keenan also talked about specific impactful instances with the former president. He spoke about the

process of writing the speech for the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches in Alabama,

where non-violent protestors who were fighting for voting rights were met with opposing violent

protesters. The speech took place on March 7, 2015, at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Obama talked about

the monumental day in history and how it has shaped America. According to Keenan, Obama himself

played a large role in the speech’s success.

“[It is] my favorite speech,” he said. “If there’s one speech I hope people go watch of [Obama’s] it’s that.

It was our purest collaboration.”

As his speech continued, Keenan also repeatedly touched upon the importance of activism in the field of

politics. He believes it is critical to continue to fight for the change you want to see.

“I am an idealist, and I fight for the way things should be,” Keenan said. “It doesn’t matter who the

president is, you have to fight for what you believe in.”

As he talked about activism, Keenan also emphasized the importance of activism even when your own

personal struggles are not as prevalent.

“We can’t just care about what happens to this country when our own narrow interests are at stake,” he

said.

While Keenan emphasized understanding and activism, he admitted that it is not always easy.

“It is messy. It is conflicted, it is frustrating, it is disappointing,” he said. “You have to make

compromises. You sometimes have to compromise with yourself, and often it’s disappointing.”

While activism is complicated, Keenan believes younger generations are critical to creating any sort of

change.

“Young people have an effect on politics—one in three 18-25 year olds voted in the midterm election and

the Congress age went down,” he said.

As his speech came to a close, Keenan ended with a final point on advocacy.

“Show up, dive in. Don’t wait for someone else to be an example...we are waiting for you.”
Junior Isabella Saputo found Keenan’s speech to be impactful, and enjoyed hearing about his specific

experiences working with Obama.

“I thought it was really engaging to listen to someone who has helped craft the voice of the president and

who helped to write some of my favorite speeches that the president gave,” she said. “He was thoughtful

and humble, and I liked hearing his insights into how he found himself in such a powerful and unique

position.”

Similarly to Saputo, Maryn Grimes, co-president of the Liberal Arts Forum, found Keenan’s speech to be

very interesting. What captivated her the most was that he was very open minded and stressed the

importance of understanding opposing viewpoints when being an advocate. She found this part of his

speech to ring true during a dinner they had together pre-lecture.

“It was very nice that even though I’m a Republican and he is obviously a Democrat, that we have similar

views on many topics,” she said. “We were able to respect each other’s opinions and relate to each other

and that is something that I believe today’s America needs more of.”