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Alumni Success Stories

Jon Favreau ’03

Jon Favreau ’03

Jon Favreau ’03 channels President Obama’s thoughts. The political science major and class valedictorian entered politics at graduation and is now the president’s chief speechwriter. And every step on his path to success can be traced back to Holy Cross. As a student, “Favs” volunteered at the welfare office in Worcester, and his experiences there led him to the College’s Washington Semester, during which he interned for Senator John Kerry. Favreau’s work ethic won him a spot in Kerry’s presidential campaign after graduation, and the young speechwriter met Barack Obama at the 2004 convention. Disillusioned after the campaign, Favreau thought he was through with politics, but Obama rekindled his passion. At his job interview, the future president asked him why he became interested in politics, and Favreau told him about the Worcester welfare office. Obama hired him on the spot.

The candidate and the speechwriter quickly found a productive way to work together. As Favreau explains the process, “We sit together for half an hour. He talks and I type everything he says. I reshape it, I write. He writes, he reshapes it. That’s how we get a finished product.” Favreau foresees a future of writing — maybe screenplays, maybe novels. “After writing for President Obama, any other job in politics would be so anticlimactic,” he says.