Sarah Hurwitz is an American speechwriter. A senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama in 2009 and 2010, and head speechwriter for First Lady

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

from 2010 to 2017, she was appointed to serve on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council by

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

shortly before he left the White House.

Biography

Hurwitz is from

Wayland, Massachusetts Wayland is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The town was founded in 1638, and incorporated in 1780 and was originally part of neighboring Sudbury, Massachusetts, Sudbury (incorporated 1639). ...

. She attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

, and began her career as an intern in Vice President's Al Gore's speechwriting office in 1998. She was Chief Speechwriter for Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign and Deputy Chief Speechwriter for the Presidential campaigns of Senator

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

and General Wesley Clark. She was offered a job as a senior speechwriter for then-Senator Barack Obama on his presidential campaign days after Clinton conceded. Her first assignment for

was to work with her on her address to the

2008 Democratic National Convention The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for president and vice president. The conve ...

. She also wrote Mrs. Obama's speeches at the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and 2016 Democratic National Conventions. After a couple of years as a senior speechwriter for President Obama, Hurwitz became Chief Speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama and also worked on policy issues affecting young women and girls as a senior advisor to the White House Council on Women and Girls. After leaving the White House in 2017, she served as a Fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University. ''

The Forward ''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ...

'' included Hurwitz in their Forward 50 list as one of 2016's fifty most influential Jewish-Americans. She was also named to the 2019 Forward 50 List. Hurwitz' book, ''Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life -- in Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There)'', about her rediscovery of Judaism, was published by

Spiegel & Grau Spiegel & Grau was originally a publishing imprint of Penguin Random House founded by Celina Spiegel and Julie Grau in 2005. On January 25, 2019, Penguin Random House announced that the imprint was being shut down and the two founders were l ...

on 3 September 2019. It debuted as the number 1 new release overall in the Jewish Life category on Amazon. Its Kindle edition, which sold less than its hardcover edition, was also the second highest new Kindle seller in the Amazon Jewish Life category as well. The book was named a Finalist for the 2019 National Jewish Book Award in two categories: "Contemporary Jewish Life and Practice" and "Education and Jewish Identity," as well as a Finalist for the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurwitz, Sarah Speechwriters for presidents of the United States People from Wayland, Massachusetts Harvard Law School alumni Jewish American writers American women non-fiction writers Obama administration personnel 21st-century American women