by Cody Keenan
First published 2022
Cody Keenan opens Grace in the West Wing during ten explosive days in June 2015. A white supremacist has massacred nine people in Charleston. The Supreme Court weighs the fate of marriage equality and the Affordable Care Act. Confederate flags fly over state capitols as the nation confronts its racial legacy. Keenan, Obama's chief speechwriter, must craft words that could unite or divide America. Obama pours drinks and plays Miles Davis while searching for the right phrases. He writes late into the night in the family residence, demanding perfection from every sentence. The White House team including Ben Rhodes, Valerie Jarrett, and Jen Psaki works frantically as crises cascade. Keenan navigates the impossible balance required of America's first Black president, who must address racial violence without alienating white voters. The book culminates when Obama takes an extraordinary risk, leading a grieving congregation and watching nation in singing "Amazing Grace." Through insider details and personal moments, Keenan reveals how presidential rhetoric gets made under the most intense pressure.
Genres: history, american, political-science, politics, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: insider-details, personal-moments
Setting: Charleston, West Wing, White House
Period: 2015
320 pages · Hardcover · Mariner Books
Content warnings: racism, violence