Frank Kundrat of St. Cloud, MN asks:

How does one actually become a speechwriter for a president?

Ray Price responds:

There are all sorts of ways in which one may become a presidential speechwriter. I did because then-former Vice President Nixon sought me out, and I joined his staff nearly two years before he became president. I had been the editorial page editor of the New York Herald Tribune, a leading Republican newspaper. While at the White House I hired several from various backgrounds – one, David Gergen, was just finishing up the Navy, but had been Managing Editor of the Yale Daily News (I went to Yale, so was familiar with the News), then had graduated from Harvard Law School (I’ve always thought law was good training for the mind, despite what some lawyers do to us); another was Washington PR representative for MetLife, but had spent most of his life as an Associated Press correspondent and had also been Republican County Chairman in Fairfax County (suburban Washington).

When I was a newspaper editor I formulated a basic rule for hiring: if a person had gone to journalism school I wouldn’t hold it against him if he was otherwise qualified, but I wanted someone who could think – clearly, logically, linearly, constructively. I could teach him the tricks of the trade, but if he couldn’t think he’d be of no use to me. So I cared more about a good, solid liberal arts background. In the White House that remained my #1 consideration – though, of course, it also had to be someone who was on our basic wavelength politically and philosophically. I certainly wanted people with a flair for writing, and who believed in the basic directions in which we were trying to take the country and the world – not in all the details, but in the basics. I didn’t want people to write things they didn’t believe in. And I wanted people whose beliefs were well thought out, and well grounded, and who had both personal and political integrity. And, of course, who could stand up to the often enormous pressures of White House life and work.

Ted Sorensen responds:

Apply. Submit samples of speeches you have written for yourself or others. Gain experience and reputation by writing for lesser officials.

Next question...

1) Who was the first president to use a speechwriter?

2) How do you become a speechwriter?

3) How much does a president contribute to his speeches?

4) What are the goals of an inaugural address?

5) What should be the theme of Bush's speech?

6) How long should an inaugural speech be?

Library of Congress: Presidential Inaugurations

National Museum of American History: The American Presidency

George W. Bush's Campaign Speeches