Non­fic­tion

Thanks, Oba­ma: My Hopey, Changey White House Years

  • From the Publisher
March 29, 2018

Like many twen­tysome­things, David Litt fre­quent­ly embar­rassed him­self in front of his boss’s boss. Unlike many twen­tysome­things, Lit­t’s boss’s boss was Pres­i­dent Obama.

At age twen­ty-four, Litt became one of the youngest White House speech­writ­ers in his­to­ry. Along with remarks on issues like cli­mate change and crim­i­nal jus­tice reform, he was the pres­i­den­t’s go-to writer for com­e­dy. As the lead on the White House Cor­re­spon­dents’ Din­ner speech (the State of the Union of jokes”), he was respon­si­ble for some of Pres­i­dent Oba­ma’s most mem­o­rable moments, includ­ing Kee­gan-Michael Key’s appear­ance as Luther, Oba­ma’s anger trans­la­tor.” With a humorist’s eye for detail and a con­vert’s zeal, Litt takes us inside his eight years on the front lines of Oba­ma­world. In his polit­i­cal com­ing-of-age sto­ry, he goes from star­ry-eyed col­lege student‑a self-described Obamabot”-to ner­vous junior speech­writer to White House senior staff. His behind-the-scenes anec­dotes answer ques­tions you nev­er knew you had: What’s the classi­est White House men’s room? What’s the social scene like on Air Force One? How do you force the Nation­al Secu­ri­ty Coun­cil to stop hit­ting reply-all on every e‑mail?

In between light­heart­ed obser­va­tions, Litt uses his expe­ri­ence to address one of today’s most impor­tant issues: the lega­cy and future of the Oba­ma move­ment in the age of Don­ald Trump.

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