In Person: Author Talk with Cody Keenan

GRACE: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America is the riveting inside story of the most exhilarating and emotional stretch of the Obama presidency, told by the only person who could: Obama’s longtime collaborator and chief speechwriter, Cody Keenan. On June 17, 2015, a white supremacist murdered nine Black worshipers in a Charleston, South Carolina church. In the days that followed, America – and its first Black president – went through a profound reckoning with race and the legacy of the Confederate flag. Meanwhile, two consequential Supreme Court decisions loomed that would decide more than the fate of a presidency, but the fate of millions: the right to health care for working families and the right for same-sex couples to marry. Through it all, President Obama and his chief speechwriter acted as America’s public narrators, composing a series of high-stakes speeches to meet a succession of stunning developments – culminating with an unforgettable high point: Obama stunning everybody by taking a deep breath and leading the country in a chorus of “Amazing Grace.”

With the character of the country on the line, GRACE takes readers deep inside the White House to offer the most intimate glimpse that exists into crafting speeches at the highest level with Barack Obama. Cody Keenan masterfully narrates the propulsive story of those ten days and illustrates what they tell us about America – where we’ve been and where we can go. And with the make-or-break 2022 elections almost upon us, GRACE becomes more than a gripping read, but a timely roadmap for bending our American journey toward progress and hope.

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