By Vanessa Igras, Staff Writer
On Thursday, Jan. 27, The Eisenhower Institute’s (EI) Fielding Center hosted an event for a conversation with the head speechwriter for former President Barack Obama from 2005–2013, Jon Favreau. Nicole DeJacimo ’22 led this active discussion as Gettysburg College students asked pressing questions about Favreau’s time in the White House.
Since leaving the White House in 2013, Favreau has shared his unique experience of working as a speechwriter to audiences around the world. After co-founding Crooked Media in 2017, Favreau became a co-host of Pod Save America, a podcast for unfiltered political discourse.
“My old boss was the greatest mentor anyone could ever ask for,” said Favreau. “He taught me how to write. He taught me how to think through some of the most difficult problems that presidents face. But, the most important thing he taught me was to believe, no matter what, in the possibilities of American democracy.”
Favreau initiated the conversation by sharing three individual stories in which his line of work shaped his current worldview. In one particular story, Favreau described the phone call he made to Ann Louise Nixon Cooper, a 106-year-old woman who had stood over two hours in line to vote for President-Elect Barack Obama.
“She was born in a time where she wasn’t allowed to vote for two reasons: because she was a woman, and because she was Black,” said Favreau.
According to Favreau, all that Ms. Cooper witnessed in her 100 years in America was representative of the change and progress in the status of African-Americans and women. For this reason, she was invoked in Obama’s November 2008 election speech.
Favreau concluded his story by saying “obviously, not all of our White House days were as inspiring as that moment and the country has clearly seen some very dark days since we left … but the promise of democracy, the reason that democracy is worth saving, is that we have a say in what happens. The only guaranteed outcome is what happens if we decide we are too cynical to keep fighting, to keep trying to change hearts and minds, and to keep believing in what this country could be.”
Before opening the floor up to questions, Favreau told Gettysburg College students that “up until this day, that is the lesson that has kept [him] going the most.”
The full recording of this virtual event will be available later this week through the Eisenhower Institute.
