2023 Book Review #18:Grace

 

This was one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read about a president.  I was first drawn to the title and book art when I saw this displayed at our town library.  I loved President Barack Obama and his wife, the very classy first lady, Michelle. I've read her book Becoming and I loved it! I also read much of Obama's book.  This one is written by his main speechwriter (Chief White House Speechwriter) who wrote most of Obama's speeches.  This book takes place over a ten day period in June 2015.  It's powerful.  And very insightful.  In fact, I learned a lot that I didn't know. 

BOOK SUMMARY

This book is about the ten most dramatic days of Obama's Presidency, "when a hate fueled massacre and a looming Supreme Court decision put the character of our country on the line, and a President's words could bring the nation together or tear it apart." (quotes are from the jacket cover).

A white supremacist shooting and an astonishing act of forgiveness.  A national reckoning with race and the Confederate flag. Marriage equality and Obama's Affordable Care Act (health coverage). All of these things happened during ten days in June 2015 and Obama and his team of speechwriters, particularly the chief writer, Cody Keenan composed a series of speeches to meet a succession of stunning developments that happened in our nation. 

 This is a behind the scenes look at what goes into writing a speech for the United States president, and how Obama gave advice to Cody.  

Each chapter is a different day, beginning on Wednesday, June 17, 2015 and ending on Friday, June 26, 2015.  The prologue is March 5th, 2015. There is an epilogue at the end of the book followed by The Speeches.  Three main ones from those 10 days.  It's brilliant writing.  Honestly, the last two presidents after Obama have NO class compared to Obama. (in my opinion). I truly miss him being President. 

Obama suggests that Keenan pour himself a drink, listen to some music by Miles Davis, and "find the silences".....we also see a glimpse of the Barack's late night writing sessions in the First Family's residence.

Keenan shows us the ins and outs of speech writing......for the most demanding of bosses......Barack Obama was apparently poetic and perfectionistic. 

We also see a glimpse of other  White House insiders on the Obama team:  Ben Rhodes, Valerie Jarrett,  Jen Psaki, the entire speechwriting team who were responsible for pulling everything together during a furious, historic stretch of Obama's presidency.  This team also included Keenan's fact checker, Kristen, who later became Cody's wife. We see a little glimpse into their engagement and wedding and I really enjoyed that section. It made the story so personal and warming amidst so much tragedy between these pages. 

The book basically ends with Obama's famous eulogy speech at the Charleston AME church where he stunned an entire nation.....and world......by taking a deep breath and leading the country in a chorus of "Amazing Grace". 

MY THOUGHTS

This book is a wonderful look at the behind the scenes life of a chief speech writer and everything that goes into the president looking and sounding good.

I was very surprised that Obama had as much input into his speeches as Cody reports.  I always just figured the speeches were written and he just read them or memorized them.  He really was an eloquent speaker and I guess it makes sense that he would give as many edits as he did.  

My heart was broken when I read of the individuals who lost their lives at the murderous gunman inside that Bible study group. My heart rejoiced that they extended the mercy and grace of God Almighty.....that is JESUS showing up in that courtroom.  How brave they were!!  How committed to their faith. I honestly would struggle with that if faced with the same situation. 

This book is important. I learned alot about the Supreme Court decision regarding the Marriage Equality Act and what went into that. Although I know there are certain sins in this world, we as Christ followers really cannot be surprised when the world acts like the world!!  I do have respect for people though and embrace the diversity of our nation. I just want to be the best Christ follower I can be and I hope I have a touch of class when I speak to non-Christ followers, showing them mercy and grace like the Obamas do and like those wounded families/friends in Charleston. And yes, I firmly believe we need to perhaps re-write the 2nd amendment regarding the ownership of guns. We also need to do much better in how we serve the mentally ill in this nation. 

I LOVED being able to read the speeches in full in the back of the book.  They're brilliant. The only one I actually remembered was the one at the AME church.  I happened to watch the news that day.  What a time in history.  How I pray our next leader is as good as Obama was.

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older. 

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9.