President Barack Obama is getting a new head speech writer, and he has a big couple weeks ahead of him.
The White House confirmed Tuesday that Chicago native Cody Keenan is busy working on next week’s State of the Union address. Keenan replaces speech writer Jon Favreau, who soon will bid farewell to the White House.
This isn't Keenan's first shot at writing for the nation's top office, though.
He is credited with collaborating with the president on Obama's speech at the Tucson memorial after the shooting that left former Congressman Gabby Giffords injured. Keenan also has been the go-to writer for when championship teams visit the White House. (Keenan is described as a diehard Chicago Bears fan.)
Keenan graduated from Northwestern University and Harvard’s Kennedy School, and worked for Senator Ted Kennedy before joining the Obama senate office in 2007.
He lived in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood until he was 5, then moved to Evanston and Wilmette, before moving in high school to Connecticut.
