Farewell

Obama Speechwriter Leaves for Hollywood

Became campaign's head speechwriter at 26.

The White House is becoming a pipeline for Hollywood. First President Obama’s speechwriter Jon Lovett left to write the comedy 1600 Penn, and now Jon Favreau, the young writer behind Obama’s first inaugural address and his health-care speech to Congress, is departing to pursue screenwriting, the Los Angeles Times reports. Favreau’s rise seems torn from a West Wing script: a 23-year-old junior writer for Sen. John Kerry in 2004, Favreau was sent to tell Obama to trim his convention speech; instead he interrupted the rehearsal to give the then-senatorial candidate some tips on improvement. In the seven years since, Favreau has written many of Obama’s key speeches, been called one of People magazine’s most beautiful people, dated actress Rashida Jones, and lit up gossip blogs with photos of shirtless beer pong.