Grace

<p><strong>A <em>NEW YORK TIMES</em> BESTSELLER</strong></p><p><strong>At a time when the meaning of America is up for grabs Cody Keenan's new book chronicles ten days that tested us and ultimately showed us at our best. It's a captivating story about what's worth fighting for an antidote to cynicism that will make you believe again.--President Barack Obama via Twitter</strong></p><p><strong>From Barack Obama's chief speechwriter Cody Keenan a spellbinding account of the ten most dramatic days of the presidency when a hate-fueled massacre and looming Supreme Court decisions put the character of our country on the line and a president's words could bring the nation together or tear it apart.</strong></p><p>A white supremacist shooting and an astonishing act of forgiveness. A national reckoning with race and the Confederate flag. The fate of marriage equality and the Affordable Care Act. <em>Grace</em> is the propulsive story of ten days in June 2015 when Obama and his chief speechwriter Cody Keenan composed a series of high-stakes speeches to meet a succession of stunning developments.</p><p>Through behind-the-scenes moments--from Obama's suggestion that Keenan pour a drink listen to some Miles Davis and find the silences to the president's late-night writing sessions in the First Family's residence--Keenan takes us inside the craft of speechwriting at the highest level for the most demanding of bosses the relentlessly poetic and perfectionist Barack Obama. <em>Grace</em> also delivers a fascinating portrait of White House insiders like Ben Rhodes Valerie Jarrett Jen Psaki and the speechwriting team responsible for pulling it all off during a furious historic stretch of the Obama presidency--including a gifted fact-checker who took Keenan's rhetoric to task before taking his hand in marriage. <em>Grace </em>is the most intimate writing that exists on the rhetorical tightrope our first Black president had to walk culminating with an unforgettable high point: Obama stunning everybody by taking a deep breath and leading the country in a chorus of Amazing Grace.</p>