A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 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 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. 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. Grace 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.
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. Grace
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. Grace 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.
