Immortal words.

• Author: Glastris, Paul
• Position: Presidential speeches - Editorial

When a presidential speechwriter is given an assignment--to write, say, a eulogy, or a commencement address, or remarks for the signing of an important bill--the first thing he or she will do is look up the speeches that past presidents gave on similar occasions. In the Clinton White House, we spent quite a bit of time studying the great orations of our favorite Democrats: Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and especially John F. Kennedy.

But the dirty little secret is how much we cribbed from Ronald Reagan. We did so not out of love for the Gipper but because he and his speechwriters were the modern masters of the form. Once, while working on remarks for a certain annual education event, I dug up the words Reagan had offered at the same event years before. I quickly realized the structure of Reagan's remarks was so elegant, and the sentiments he expressed so charming, that there was no way I could improve upon them or--far worse--get them out of my mind. The speech I eventually wrote for Clinton was quite well received, but let's just say that it deserved no prize for originality.

The speeches of George W. Bush are at least as well crafted as Reagan's. This is especially true of those written with the assistance of the talented Michael Gerson. Future White House scribes will be dissecting, and pilfering from, Bush's speeches for decades to come. I doubt, however, that future high school valedictorians will be quoting from them, for the simple reason that history tends to render the same harsh judgment on presidential rhetoric that it does on the presidencies themselves.

Consider the fine presidential speeches of the past that no one remembers today. Warren G. Harding, a former newspaper publisher and editorialist, was thought by many in his day to be quite eloquent. His speech at the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in 1922 remains worth reading for its passionate evocation of our feelings for the sixteenth president ("In every moment of peril, in every hour of discouragement, whenever the clouds gather, there is the image of Lincoln to rivet our hopes and to renew our faith") and for hints of Harding's own rather progressive views on racial equality. And yet because in office he did nothing to actually advance those views, or much of anything else, his speeches are forgotten. Harding is remembered today chiefly for the neologism in his campaign slogan ("return to normalcy") and the corruption of his cabinet.

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