Ben Rhodes
Obama's deputy national security advisor for strategic communications; co-host of Pod Save the World.
At a glance
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- Ben Rhodes is an American writer and political commentator.
- He was a speechwriter on Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, wrote the 2009 Cairo speech "A New Beginning", and became deputy national security advisor for strategic communications and speechwriting, central to the reopening of relations with Cuba in 2014.
- Out of government, he co-hosts the foreign policy podcast Pod Save the World with Tommy Vietor, co-chairs National Security Action with Jake Sullivan, and writes the Substack Notes on the Stories We Tell.
- His books include the memoir The World as It Is (2018).
Key facts
- Born
- 14 November 1977, Manhattan, New York1
- Education
- Rice University (English and political science, 2000); MFA in creative writing, New York University (2002)1
- Before Obama
- Assistant to Lee Hamilton for five years, helping draft the Iraq Study Group report and the 9/11 Commission recommendations1
- Obama administration
- Campaign speechwriter from 2007; then deputy national security advisor for strategic communications and speechwriting1
- Now
- Co-host of Pod Save the World with Tommy Vietor; co-chair of National Security Action with Jake Sullivan; commentator for NBC News and MS NOW1
- Books
- The World as It Is (2018); After the Fall (2021); All We Say: The Battle for American Identity (2026)1
Roles
Connections
Links
Sources
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