Ep. 116 - Cody Keenan

The Axe Files with David Axelrod

CNN

News

4.6 • 7.7K Ratings

🗓️ 26 January 2017

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Cody Keenan, former chief speechwriter to President Obama, talks with David Axelrod about his evolution from intern in the speechwriting department of the 2008 Obama presidential campaign to becoming the President’s chief speechwriter; how President Obama collaborates on the speechwriting process; and what it was like to serve in the White House for eight years. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	And now, from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN, the Axviles, with your
0:12.5	host, David Axelrod.
0:18.1	I met Cody Keenan when he was a young volunteer speechwriter in the Obama for President Campaign
0:23.2	in 2007.
0:25.0	I worked with him in the White House, watched him grow to become the President's Chief
0:28.8	Speechwriter, a collaborator on some of the most meaningful and impactful speeches of
0:34.0	our time.
0:35.0	I sat down with Cody the other day on his final day in the White House to talk about his
0:39.5	journey.
0:46.0	Cody Keenan, good to be with you on your last day in the White House.
0:50.6	The walls are bare.
0:52.5	The staff is gone, but the last event at the White House was the Cubs celebration.
1:02.0	I noticed that the remarks were about three times as long as the normal sports.
1:09.0	I suspect that it's something to do with you.
1:11.8	Yeah, I'm not sorry, that they were longer.
1:14.0	I mean, if you'd, I was born in Wrigleyville, literally.
1:18.5	And, you know, if you'd told me eight years ago.
1:20.6	In a saloon?
1:22.2	That wouldn't surprise me.
1:23.2	My dad sketchy about the details.
1:25.9	But I did.
1:26.9	The first bar I ever went into was Murphy's Bleachers and I was six months old.
	...

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