Please join the IOP and Cody Keenan, speechwriter for President Obama, for an informal chat about speechwriting and the 2021 State of the Union, which President Biden will deliver a few hours after this meet-up. What might President Biden’s team seek to accomplish with this speech? How does the writing process work when dealing with such a high-profile event and the many entities who want to make sure their issue or project gets a mention? What messages should we look for? And how can powerful storytelling galvanize political and community leaders and the general American population at large? Cody Keenan is a political adviser and a partner at Fenway Strategies, and he has collaborated with President Obama since 2007. After he helped pen the 2013 State of the Union address, he succeeded Jon Favreau as the White House Director of Speechwriting. Keenan received an M.P.P. from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a B.A. in political science from Northwestern University, where he currently teaches speechwriting. His upcoming memoir, Grace, is set to release in 2022.

This chat will be moderated by IOP Student Advisory Board Senior Chair Lucy Ritzmann.