Basic Information
Name: Jonathan E. Favreau
Nicknames: Favs, Jonathan "Dream" Favreau, Not the Guy From Swingers
Born: June 2nd, 1981
Nationality: American
Hometown: Winchester, Massachusetts
WORK & EDUCATION
Occupation: Speechwriter, Communications Consultant, Podcast Host
Education: College of the Holy Cross
FAMILY & FRIENDS
Parents: Mark Favreau, Lillian Favreau
Spouse: Emily Black (fiancée)
Friends: Barack Obama, Dan Pfeiffer, John Kerry, Ben Rhodes, David Axelrod, David Plouffe
Foes: Donald Trump, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Formerly: Hillary Clinton
Analysis
The Youth Election
Much like first-year students at Hogwarts, every election season a new group of young voters gets to experience the magic of casting their ballots for the first time. There are always people coming of age in America, but the 2008 election was a generation-defining event for the youngins. Or, as some might say, the "yoots."
In previous presidential elections, the olds pretty much ran things. Rates of voter turnout for younger citizens tended to be abysmally low. In 2000, candidates George W. Bush and Al Gore mostly talked about issues that would affect the elderly, like Social Security and the retirement age. Meanwhile, it seemed like young people were more concerned with such pressing issues as the fallout from Star Wars: Episode I—the Phantom Menace than they were with the presidential election.
In 2008, Barack Obama's team of advisors and aides was full of fresh, young faces. Basically…squad goals. One of the youngest and freshest was that of Jon Favreau, a Washington speechwriter who got his start working for Senator John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate.
Favreau is not to be confused with the other Jon Favreau, the filmmaker who appeared alongside Vince Vaughn in the '90s indie classic Swingers and directed a little movie you may have heard of called Iron Man.
Totally different dude.
Favreau (the speechwriter, not Vince Vaughn's BFF) worked with Obama to develop the candidate's famous oratorical style. Obama was a proficient writer himself and became close with Favreau as they crafted metaphor after metaphor like a couple of Beat poets at a jazz concert. In his podcast, "Keepin' It 1600," Favreau has stated that Obama did a lot of his own speechwriting, sometimes composing entire drafts by himself. Given Obama's gifts as a speaker, Favreau's job was sort of like being The Rock's personal trainer.
"I'll spot you, bro."
This Party Is Lame
During the campaign, Obama's speeches focused on unity, specifically on bridging the gap between the political parties. Although they kept this up in the inaugural address, Favreau and Obama may have thrown some shade at the vanquished Republican Party.
At the beginning of the speech, Obama says, "On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics" (7.2). The message seemed to blame partisan disunity on the past administration.
If you listened to Favreau's podcast, you soon picked up that he is a committed Democrat. Loyal to both Kerry and Obama, his desire to reach out to the other side only went so far…which is true of many politicians, advisors, and, let's be real here, even voters.
Favreau left the speechwriting world after Obama won reelection and started a second term in 2013. He said that anything else would seem like a letdown after working for Obama.
At least he got his own podcast?