The Art of White House Speechwriting

Sarah Hurwitz
Senior Speechwriter for President Barack Obama and Chief Speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama
Cody Keenan
Director of Speechwriting for President Barack Obama
John McConnell
Senior Speechwriter for President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney
Ann Compton (Moderator)
Fall 2016 Resident Fellow, Institute of Politics
White House Correspondent, ABC News (1973-2014)

Moderator Ann Compton, ABC New White House Correspondent and Fall 2016 Resident Fellow at the Institute of Politics; Cody Keenan, Director of Speechwriting for President Barack Obama; Sarah Hurwitz, Senior Speechwriter for President Barack Obama and Chief Speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama; and John McConnel, Senior Speechwriter for President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney discuss how they got started in speechwriting and the stories behind some of the prominent speeches they wrote, including President George W. Bush’s address to Congress following the September 11 terrorist attacks and President Barack Obama’s farewell speech. During the Q&A session, they discussed the mistakes they made and the lessons they learned, how they worked with their speakers to make them better speakers, Donald Trump’s speaking style, and much more.