Bush's Public Voice Speaks At IOP Forum

Few people have as much power to shape American discourse and thought as the president, and no one has had as much power to shape the words of President George W. Bush in the last five years as his speechwriter, Michael J. Gerson. When you hear the president use terms such as “axis of evil” or “soft bigotry of low expectations,” you are hearing Gerson’s handiwork.

Gerson—a former presidential speechwriter and top adviser who left the White House mid-June—is at Harvard this week as a Visiting Fellow for the Institute of Politics (IOP) at the Kennedy School of Government. He now serves as a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a non-partisan Washington think tank.

In an interview with The Crimson on Monday, Gerson said a speechwriter often cannot predict which points the public and the news media will view as salient in any given speech.

One such case was President Bush’s famed branding of North Korea, Iraq, and Iran as the “axis of evil” in his 2002 State of the Union Address, which sparked fierce political debate and cascades of criticism from Bush opponents, Gerson said.

“I did not believe that that was going to be the news from the speech,” he said. “That speech...was the first time an American president in a State of the Union Address had dealt with the issue of democracy in the Arab Middle East, and I thought that was going to be the real news.”

“‘Axis of evil’ was a phrase, a vivid phrase, to describe a challenge or threat of the new world,” Gerson said. “We were using examples of outlaw regimes that would present a problem, and of course that turned out to be pretty predictive of the foreign policy challenges that have taken place in the last few years.”

Gerson expressed content with his time at the White House, saying, “I don’t come out disillusioned.”

Nonetheless, Gerson described the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as the most frustrating period in his career in the White House.

“We attempted to give benefits to a number of people who literally had no connection to mainstream America; they were living in a different country,” Gerson said. “The response from both Democrats and Republicans was underwhelming.” He added that the problem of abject poverty is one the American political system is not geared to fix.

IOP fellow Christina Martin, who hosted Gerson at her study group, said Gerson’s visit comes at a time of increasing interest in speechwriting.

“Mike’s presence here at Harvard, speaking to students, is a real-life example of the impact one principled, passionate and persuasive person can have in public service,” she said.

IOP Director Jeanne Shaheen said Gerson’s visit stands out from the constant stream of influential speakers coming through Harvard.

“One of the things that makes [Gerson’s visit] very special is that he’s here very soon after his public service,” Shaheen said. “He was involved in much of the more visible policies of the Bush administration.”

She also noted that as a speechwriter and very recent staff member, Gerson is the kind of visitor who piques student interest.

Caleb L. Weatherl ’10, who attended five events with Gerson yesterday and Monday concurred with Shaheen.

“It’s incredible, it’s one of those ‘only at Harvard’ moments,” Weatherl said.