The Presidential Speech
Exploring President Obama's Address at the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington
Chyenne, shown here with Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Speechwriting Kyle O'Connor (HHS '04). Mr. O'Connor described how he helped craft President Obama's March on Washington Anniversary speech as well as other topics. This discussion took place at the White House on November 6th, 2013. Students also visited the Indian Treaty Room.
Security had a few issues with Arianna, Barbara and Kiet trying to enter the White House.
Arianna- As a white man, did you feel intimidated helping to write a speech which honored Martin Luther King and delivered by the first black president? ANSWER- The ideas from the speech came mostly from the President, but that thought did cross my mind.
Rashid(R)- In June, 1963 President Kennedy said “the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.” Did you look back at Kennedy’s speech or any other presidential speeches on civil rights? ANSWER- I looked back at many other speeches like Washington, Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt's but I mainly looked at Kennedy's because he was in office when the civil rights movement was going on.
Cierra- Did it cross your mind that you were working on a speech honoring non-violent civil rights activists at the same time President Obama was considering military action in Syria? ANSWER- Yes, but this speech was more focused toward a viewpoint of economic standing. We work on so many speeches so it's easy to go from one topic to another. I worked on the Nobel Peace Prize speech as well and that speech had to do with his approach to war.
Beverly-
Mr. Graney mentioned you have worked on some of First Lady
Michelle Obama's speeches. How is writing for the First Lady different than
writing for the President?
Matt (R)- Did you watch President Carter's speech at the 50th Anniversary and if so, did you think he took a shot at President Obama when he mentioned troubling economic statistics? ANSWER- What President Carter said was fair.
Sumayya
Tim- Mr. Graney thinks Jackie Kennedy is the hottest First Lady of all time. I think Michelle Obama is prettier. Who do you think is more attractive? ANSWER- Does he still have her picture on his classroom wall? (He does). I can't really say because I work with her....but I'm not as much of a fan of Jackie as Mr. Graney is.
Brian(Tim's
left)- Were you working during
the government shutdown? If so, what was the White House like?
ANSWER- There weren't many people
working except a few executives who had to ask lower employees how to do simple
jobs such as answer phones, send faxes, etc. Maybe 20% of the White House
workers were on the job. The west wing was almost abandoned except for a few
people but overall the building was pretty much empty
Laura (L)-
How did you find out you would be working on the 50th anniversary speech and
what happened next? Take us through that process please.
ANSWER-I
was excited to find out that I was working on it but wasn't surprised
because I'm like the "black speech writer" because I write speeches that
have to do with race equality. Because of the possible military action in Syria
President Obama didn't get back to me and the other speech writers for three
days which scared us because the speech was to be given the next day.
Originally POTUS wasn’t sure he would have the time to
really get into the speech, but eventually he found it. Winging it wasn’t
an option!
Aisha- A change of topic if you don’t mind. Mr. Graney said you were a Political Science intern at HHS. I will be interning on Capitol Hill next semester. Do you have any advice for me? ANSWER- You need to work really hard show that you belong there, keep in touch with people, make friends there and show a good attitude.
Edith (R)- What is President Obama really like? ANSWER- He is a really nice guy and he's like a nerdy-father who likes to embarrass his kids. He likes to tell jokes and he is basically the same as he seems tv. He has patience when it comes to speechwriting. Oh and he likes to hang around younger people so he can think he's cool.
Kevin-
Do you feel protective of President Obama when he is
slammed by the opposition or in the media or do you insulate yourself from all
the politics?
Audrey- Did you have to coordinate with any other speakers at the 50th anniversary to make sure they did not touch on the themes President Obama wanted to talk about? ANSWER- We didn't coordinate with any other writes for the 50th anniversary because first of all they weren't worried about anyone else saying what the president wanted to say and also because no one is really going to tell the president he can't talk about something he wants to talk about.
Collin-
In Jonathan Alter's book "The Center Holds" he wrote that President Obama
likes to tell a story, not go for the memorable line. Is that frustrating
for you and do you ever try to sneak lines in his speeches?
ANSWER-
It’s not frustrating, because I honestly think the best
speeches are ones that tell a story – with a beginning, middle and end. If
we ever put in lines that are too cute, or don’t reflect the way the President
speaks in real life, he will take them out. And that’s a good thing.
Cierra, Paria and Bernie
Christina- In Jonathan Alter's book "The Center Holds" he wrote that “Eventually the speechwriters came to see the art of the presidential speech the way Obama did.” That implies he talked to the speechwriters. Did he talk to you?ANSWER- No. Alter may have spoken to my boss at the time. I have been drilled not to interview about his speeches because after I am done writing the speech it belongs to the person who spoke it (president).
Sara-
Considering Obamacare,
spying, and poll numbers, is this the worst week politically you've seen in the
White House? ANSWER- No, you tend to forget how
bad things are. It seemed like the BP oil spill was never going to get fixed,
everyday on CNN that showed that pipe gushing oil non-stop. Obama said
that the Newtown shooting was the worst day of his presidency. There is a light
at the end of the tunnel if the new health care website works in December.
Amelia- What was Mr. Graney like when you were at HHS (2004)? ANSWER- He hasn't changed. I wasn't into politics when I took his course (Political Science). But I liked debating all the issues. It was a fun class.
Indian Treaty Room
Azi (first row, 2nd left) President Obama mentioned in his speech that the work of race relations was not done yet. From where you sit, what do you think still needs to be done in terms of race relations? ANSWER- We have come a long way, but if we think that the legacy of slavery and racism is gone, we would be wrong. Obama wants everyone to have equal opportunity, everyone to get ahead, no matter where they live or what their race is.
Chyenne-(first row, 3rd left) Being a speech writer in itself is a tough job. Being a speech writer for the president must be incredibly scary. What is it like? ANSWER- I started out slow as a research assistant and proceeded to ease my way up. It was pretty hard doing that so I couldn't imagine just going straight into being a speech writer.
Maria (Left 2nd row) Where were you when
president Obama gave his 50th anniversary speech and do you usually watch
speeches you worked on? ANSWER-
He was there at the Lincoln memorial. He likes to go and watch how big the crowd
is. He also likes to go watch them to be able to coordinate things and make sure
everything is in order. He also like to be able to hear how loud the crowd gets
on a certain line. But he also said how if he watches the speeches he's worked
on gets nerve-raking since he's hearing the president say something he has
written.
Thanks to Ms. Anderson and Ms. Waterman for joining us.
