Keith Boykin is an American TV and film producer, national political commentator, author, and former White House aide to President Bill Clinton. He has made much of this public in his 2022 memoir, Quitting: Why I Left My Job to Live a Life of Freedom. Early life Boykin was raised in St. Louis, Missouri, and later attended Countryside High School in Clearwater, Florida. During his time in St. Louis, Boykin primarily resided in the mostly white suburb of Florissant. Early on, he developed an interest in government and leadership. He participated in student government and several sports including track-and-field and wrestling. At the age of fifteen, Boykin moved to Florida with his father, William O. Boykin, who relocated to the state to start a beauty supply business. Despite the move, Keith became the president of his school's student government as well as an editor of the school newspaper. He was also an award-winning debater and varsity track-and-field athlete. Keith matriculated at Dartmouth College in 1983. In 1984, he was awarded the William S. Churchill Prize for outstanding freshman. Then, in 1987, he won the Barrett Cup for the most distinguished member of the graduating class. After graduating from Dartmouth, Boykin worked for Michael Dukakis's presidential campaign from June 1987 to November 1988. Later, he began his studies at Harvard Law School in 1989. While at Harvard, he edited the Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review journal. He also participated in The Coalition for Civil Rights, a student group dedicated to diversifying the law school's faculty. While a member of that group, he joined ten other students in a racial discrimination lawsuit against the law school. Career After graduating from Harvard in 1992, Boykin began working at a San Francisco law firm where he had previously interned. However, he left that position in order to work for Bill Clinton's presidential campaign as the Midwest Press Director. Following Bill Clinton's victory in 1992, Boykin joined the Clinton White House as a Special Assistant to the President. He also served as Director of News Analysis. After some time in that role, he was promoted to Director of Specialty Media. In April 1993, Boykin helped to arrange the first meeting between an acting U.S. president and representatives from the LGBTQ community. That meeting included 8 members drawn from three LGBTQ organizations: The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Black Gay and Lesbian Leadership forum,