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Presidents and Their Speechwriters
Simon & Schuster
April 2008
On Sale: April 15, 2008
592 pages ISBN: 0743291697 EAN: 9780743291699 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
In White House Ghosts, veteran Washington reporter
Robert Schlesinger opens a fresh and revealing window on the
modern presidency from FDR to George W. Bush. This is the
first book to examine a crucial and often hidden role played
by the men and women who help presidents find the words they
hope will define their places in history. Drawing on
scores of interviews with White House scribes and on
extensive archival research, Schlesinger weaves intimate,
amusing, compelling stories that provide surprising insights
into the personalities, quirks, egos, ambitions, and humor
of these presidents as well as how well or not they
understood the bully pulpit. White House Ghosts
traces the evolution of the presidential speechwriter's job
from Raymond Moley under FDR through such luminaries as Ted
Sorensen and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., under JFK, Jack
Valenti and Richard Goodwin under LBJ, William Safire and
Pat Buchanan under Nixon, Hendrik Hertzberg and James
Fallows under Carter, and Peggy Noonan under Reagan, to the
"Troika" of Michael Gerson, John McConnell, and Matthew
Scully under George W. Bush. White House Ghosts
tells the fascinating inside stories behind some of the most
iconic presidential phrases: the first inaugural of FDR
("the only thing we have to fear is fear itself ") and JFK
("ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you
can do for your country"), Richard Nixon's "I am not a
crook" and Ronald Reagan's "tear down this wall" speeches,
Bill Clinton's ending "the era of big government" State of
the Union, and George W. Bush's post-9/11 declaration that
"whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to
our enemies, justice will be done" -- and dozens of other
noteworthy speeches. The book also addresses crucial
questions surrounding the complex relationship between
speechwriter and speechgiver, such as who actually crafted
the most memorable phrases, who deserves credit for them,
and who has claimed it. Schlesinger tells the story of
the modern American presidency through this unique prism --
how our chief executives developed their very different
rhetorical styles and how well they grasped the rewards of
reaching out to the country. White House Ghosts is
dramatic, funny, gripping, surprising, serious -- and always
entertaining.
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