CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Sean O’Brien, a former White House speechwriter and veteran of Chicago politics, was back in the Chicago area this weekend to promote his new book, which is about a First Family adventure.
“The main characters, whose mother becomes president, they move into the White House, and they discover this secret passage, and they go back to Teddy Roosevelt’s time,” he said.
O’Brien currently works as a Georgetown professor and graduated from Northwestern. He said the book was an idea that he and his kids came up with together during his time as a White House speechwriter.
“We were walking through the White House on a tour, and we started looking at different things, thinking about where we would put the secret passages,” he said.
“They go across the country with his kids, on a cross-country train trip, to try and save the California redwoods.”
The result is “White House Clubhouse,” in which the main characters end up on a cross-country train trip with Roosevelt’s children to try and save the California redwoods.
O'Brien has worked for U.S. Congressmen Bill Foster and Mike Quigley. He also worked with former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, ran President Obama’s midwest political operation, wrote speeches for the Bidens, and performed with Second City.
It’s his connection with his own kids, though, that he said might have been his best source for research.
“When I was going to Northwestern 30 years ago, I never thought that my return to Evanston would be with a kids book, but I’m so happy about it because that’s my favorite audience now,” O’Brien said. “Kids love to read, more than grown-ups do, honestly.”
“White House Clubhouse” is now available.
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