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By the end of the review process, speeches have been reviewed by many officials, all with their own
motives. The task of reassembling the drafts then returns to the speechwriters whose desks are covered by
marked-up speech drafts from all over the executive branch. Incorporating the feedback that comes from
around the White House is a unique combination of literary art and diplomacy as speechwriters try to
incorporate conflicting advice from a large number of administration officials—most of whom outrank
them. Michael Gerson, who was head speechwriter during George W. Bush’s first term, commented, “I
tell new writers that I hire that the job is half-writing and half-diplomacy. ”
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The position of the speechwriters in the process and the conflicting advice of others in the
Administration allow speechwriters to maintain some control over the prose. As one Carter speechwriter
noted, if they used all the input the speech would become “hodgepodge.”
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Reagan speechwriter Peter
Robinson recounted, “Officials marking up a foreign policy speech at the State Department and
Pentagon, for instance, might insert contradictory comments forcing the speechwriter to spend a lot
of time on the telephone persuading the officials to sort out their differences. ”
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Speechwriters in some administrations sometimes find themselves unable to reject enough
suggestions to put together a cohesive speech. In these cases the fate of the speech ultimately goes to the
president, allowing them the opportunity to regain control over the content and put the speech back
together. However, this might be difficult if the speechwriters have not laid a solid foundation. In his
attempt to placate both sides of the battle over the 1976 State of the Union, Ford took bits and pieces of
the competing drafts and, according to head speechwriter Robert Hartmann, “strung them together like a
string of beads. He thought that was pretty dandy. Nobody was willing to tell him how terrible it was.”
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By the end of this process, any claim of authorship is greatly clouded. As the writers and the analysts
square off, all sides jealously guard their turf--with good cause. The speechwriters produce better
speeches, but the policy makers know the policy. While the President serves as editor in chief, it is
Convention