Keith Urbahn
{{Short description|Literary Agent Biography}}
{{Distinguish|Keith Urban}}
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| name = Keith Urbahn
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| education = Yale University (BA)
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| occupation = President and a founding partner of the literary and creative agency Javelin
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{{Notability|date=August 2024}}
Keith Urbahn is the president and a founding partner of Javelin, a literary and creative agency located in Alexandria, Virginia that offers representation and public relations services.
Education
Urbahn studied religion and Arabic as an undergraduate at Yale University. He graduated summa cum laude in 2006.{{cite news |title=Keith Urbahn / Founder & President |url=http://javelindc.com/teammates/keith/ |agency=Javelin }}{{cite news |date=February 6, 2015 |title=Meet the Former Rumsfeld Aides Who Want to Blow Up DC's Book Business |url=https://www.washingtonian.com/2015/02/06/former-rumsfeld-aides-dc-book-business/ |newspaper=Washingtonian }}
Professional career
Urbahn worked for former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as a speechwriter at the Pentagon, and served as Rumsfeld's chief of staff from 2009 to 2012. He helped oversee the publication of Rumsfeld's number one New York Times bestselling 2011 memoir, Known and Unknown. He previously worked in the U.S. Senate for Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Urbahn also serves as a commissioned reserve intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy. Urbahn is credited as the person who first broke the news of Osama bin Laden's death.{{cite news |date=May 2, 2011 |title=The Tweet That Broke the News of Bin Laden's Death |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/05/tweet-broke-news-bin-ladens-death/350194/ |newspaper=The Atlantic }} On May 1, 2011, he tweeted, "So I'm told by a reputable person they have killed Osama Bin Laden. Hot damn."{{cite tweet |user=keithurbahn |number=64877790624886784 |date=May 1, 2011 |title=So I'm told by a reputable person they have killed Osama Bin Laden. Hot damn. }}
Javelin
With his business partner Matt Latimer, Urbahn founded Javelin in 2011. Among the projects Urbahn has overseen at Javelin is the development and launch of Churchill Solitaire, a viral mobile app of a version of solitaire once played by Winston Churchill.{{cite news |date=January 22, 2016 |title=Former Defense Secretary Marches Into New Territory: Videogames |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/former-defense-secretary-marches-into-new-territory-videogames-1453483137 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal }}{{cite news |title=Churchill Solitaire |url=http://javelindc.com/projects/churchill-solitaire/ |agency=Javelin }} In addition, he has represented authors and media personalities on book and television deals, such as Donna Brazile, James Comey,{{cite news |date=July 15, 2017 |title=Comey's Writing a Book, and Publishers Are Eager to Pay Big Money for It |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/15/us/politics/former-fbi-director-james-comey-book.html?_r=1 |newspaper=The New York Times }} and Tucker Carlson.{{cite news |date=May 2, 2017 |title=Tucker Carlson Gets Two-Book, Eight-Figure Deal |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bookmark/tucker-carlson-gets-two-book-eight-figure-deal-999704 |agency=AP }}
Personal
Urbahn lives in Alexandria, Virginia and has two children, Benjamin and William. Urbahn is the son of Jennifer K. Urbahn and Maximilian O. Urbahn III.{{cite news |title=Weddings: Kristen Forcht, Keith Urbahn |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/fashion/weddings/15FORCHT.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=14 November 2009 }} His grandfather, Max O. Urbahn, was a prolific architect of government buildings whose work included the design of one of the world's largest structures, the Vehicle Assembly Building at Cape Canaveral, Florida.{{cite news |date=July 13, 1995 |title=Max O. Urbahn Is Dead at 83; Designed Vast NASA Building |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/13/obituaries/max-o-urbahn-is-dead-at-83-designed-vast-nasa-building.html |newspaper=The New York Times }}
References
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Category:Yale University alumni
Category:George W. Bush administration personnel
Category:American speechwriters