All the president’s speeches

Oct 06, 2022 View in browser   By Sam Stein, Alex Thompson and Max Tani Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice.   Send tips | Subscribe here| Email Alex | Email Max There are plenty of romanticized depictions of the presidency on film, TV and written form. And then there is CODY KEENAN's new book, "Grace." The former BARACK OBAMA speechwriter has offered a tome that, on its surface, is about how the White House can do big, dramatic things. The subtitle is "President Obama and ten days in the battle for America." But the heart of the book puts political realism to literature — a showcase about how the goal of a White House is often to fend off bad things, claw for incremental progress and, above all else, fight off cynicism. How inspiration doesn't come via rah-rah speeches from the chief of staff, but from 2 a.m. smoke breaks or visceral reactions to being attacked by RUDY GIULIANI (buy the book). The plot centers around Obama's famed speech after the shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, and both Obama and Keenan's relief that he would not deliver the eulogy in Charleston. But the conceit is much broader. "Most of the 2,922 nights in the Obama White House," Keenan writes, "we went home happy if we'd moved the ball forward just a little bit." Keenan spoke with West Wing Playbook about that cynicism, the power (or lack thereof) of political oratory and how Biden world has adapted to it. A condensed, edited transcript is below. Can a speech from a president actually make a difference? No speech on its own makes a difference. It can inspire people to a cause. And we always knew that. But a president's rhetoric can make a difference… It's clear that President Trump and the way he used his words made the country more primal. You were "relieved" that Obama's first reaction to the Charleston shooting was that he did not want to go there. It ended up being a definitive moment. Why did you not see that potential?  I couldn't think of more things to say at eulogies and I didn't want to have to sit at my keyboard to come up with something. But part of it was to protect him against the general anger that nothing was going to change.  One thing Obama wanted in that speech was dramatic pauses. He called it "the notes you don't play." How much of a good speech is the text and how much is an act of theater?  I would consider stagecraft as I was writing. He was so good at it, so that made it simple. He was unique among speakers in that he likes long paragraphs and can navigate them well…. He would read a sentence and say, 'We need just one more syllable in there.' Does Obama's speech work unless the victim's families had forgiven [the shooter] DYLANN ROOF or unless [then-South Carolina Gov.] NIKKI HALEY had agreed to take down the confederate flag?  No. I really believe those families are why he gives the speech. We might have gotten backed into it somehow. But I would have had no idea what that speech was about.  The politics of redemption defined that speech and made it quintessential Obama. What defines a JOE BIDEN speech?  Biden's got a — it's not a deeper respect for the American people than Obama, but he believes in the American people in pretty profound ways. He believes in people and that they will come around. He's obviously a master connector when it comes to counseling. Obama can play that role as well as anybody but from Biden it comes from a deep, deep place.  Should he be out there speaking more about that?  I've never fully known the answer to that. There was a time when we had an Obama everywhere strategy and never knew what would break through… Like any president, including Obama, Biden is better when he is out in the country. I hated writing speeches for the East Room. Those are audiences in uncomfortable suits that don't know when to stand or applaud.  Is it easier to write a speech about a positive development or a negative one? Good things are always easy to write about. The hard speech is if the Supreme Court strikes down the Affordable Care Act. From a pure writing perspective you can write more beautiful stuff in times of challenges. But if it were up to me, I'd write victory speeches all the time.  Is that why you became ground down by the inertia of politics? You constantly, both in the White House and after, are trying to fight off cynicism… What you're trying to do at all times is monumental, but it takes forever.  What is your advice then to people who are on the fence about entering public service?  The number one thing I hope they take away from this book is to say 'that sounds fun and worth my time.' But I wanted to be honest that it's a slog and grind and you go home and say I don't think we did anything good today. But then there are days when you change millions of lives. MESSAGE US — Are you SEJAL HATHI, senior policy adviser for public health? Email us at westwingtips@politico.com.   SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY.     POTUS PUZZLER This one is from Allie. Which president created his own ball game while in office and named it after himself? (Answer at the bottom.) The Oval LAPTOP FROM HELL: The Washington Post's DEVLIN BARRETT and PERRY STEIN report that "federal agents investigating President Biden's son Hunter have gathered what they believe is sufficient evidence to charge him with tax crimes and a false statement related to a gun purchase, according to people familiar with the case." Biden's lawyer, CHRIS CLARK, sent us his full written statement: It is a federal felony for a federal agent to leak information about a Grand Jury investigation such as this one. Any agent you cite as a source in your article apparently has committed such a felony. We expect the Department of Justice will diligently investigate and prosecute such bad actors.  As is proper and legally required, we believe the prosecutors in this case are diligently and thoroughly weighing not just evidence provided by agents, but also all the other witnesses in this case, including witnesses for the defense. That is the job of the prosecutors. They should not be pressured, rushed, or criticized for doing their job.  As lead counsel for the defense in this case, I have had no contact whatsoever with any federal investigative agent. Therefore, a rendition of the case from such an "agent" is inherently biased, one-sided, and inaccurate. It is regrettable that law enforcement agents appear to be violating the law to prejudice a case against a person who is a target simply because of his family name. NEW TV GIG ALERT: ASHLEY ETIENNE, the former communications director for Vice President KAMALA HARRIS, is now a CBS News political contributor, the network announced Thursday. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: Biden's latest approval ratings. White House chief of staff RON KLAIN retweeted a post by political analyst SIMON ROSENBERG highlighting figures that show his improving ratings. Still, the majority of the country disapproves of the job he's doing. Tweet by Simon Rosenberg | Twitter WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN'T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by WSJ's JESSICA DONATI shedding light on discrimination and harassment claims made by U.S. diplomats: "Nearly half of all employees at the U.S. State Department report experiencing discrimination, bullying and harassment in the workplace, a sign that the Biden administration faces an uphill battle in its effort to build a more diverse diplomatic corps," according to the article, citing an internal survey viewed by the reporters. LATE NIGHT VEEP: Harris is set to appear Oct. 10 on NBC's "Late Night with SETH MEYERS." THE BUREAUCRATS SOUNDS… BAD: Saying higher interest rates in the U.S. and Europe are putting more pressure on developing countries, Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN urged other major economies to be prepared to help provide relief in the event the global economy takes a downturn, our VICTORIA GUIDA reports for Pros. "Clear and open communications, coupled with cooperation among the major economies to address spillovers, remain essential," Yellen said in a speech Thursday. She added that tackling inflation remains the U.S.'s priority but acknowledged that ramping up interest rates to fight inflation also affects the rest of the world. RAHM v. PUTIN: The U.S.'s ambassador to Japan RAHM EMANUEL sent the Russian president some birthday greetings. Tweet by Rahm Emanuel | Twitter Agenda Setting THE POTUS' LETTUCE: The president issued an executive order pardoning all people convicted of simple marijuana possession under federal law, our EUGENE DANIELS and NATALIE FERTIG report. Biden also urged governors to do the same for state offenses of civil marijuana possession. It is the most extensive White House action taken to date in U.S. drug policy. IRAN UPDATE: The Biden Treasury Department on Thursday announced new sanctions against seven senior leaders in Iran in response to the government's violent crackdown on large-scale protests and its internet restrictions. Our KELLY GARRITY has more. What We're Reading White House shares more on student loan forgiveness application, efforts to curb scams (WaPo's Danielle Douglas-Gabriel) U.S. Looks to Ease Venezuela Sanctions, Enabling Chevron to Pump Oil (WSJ's Patricia Garip, Vivian Salama and Kejal Vyas) US forces carried out raid targeting senior ISIS official in Syria (CNN's Oren Liebermann and Mostafa Salem) Brittney Griner at 'weakest moment' in Russia, her wife says (AP) What We're Watching USAID administrator SAMANTHA POWER will be interviewed by NBC News' CAL PERRY on "NBC Nightly News" Thursday at 6:30 p.m. POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER President HERBERT HOOVER played a game he called "Hoover-ball," a combination of tennis, volleyball, and medicine ball, according to the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum. "White House physician Adm. JOEL T. BOONE invented the game to keep President Hoover physically fit. 'It required less skill than tennis, was faster and more vigorous, and therefore gave more exercise in a short time,' Hoover wrote in his memoirs." A CALL OUT — Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents with a citation and we may feature it. Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.   LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today.       Follow us on Twitter Alex Thompson @AlexThomp Maxwell Tani @maxwelltani Allie Bice @alliebice   Follow us

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://www.politico.com/_login?base=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings This email was sent to rouf@idiot.cloudns.cc by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA Please click here and follow the steps to unsubscribe.