so the closest the speechwriters came: Author interview with Weiss.
“slip up mid-paragraph”: Waldman, POTUS Speaks, 219.
“Part of the strategy”: Author interview with Paul Glastris, 447 “I was wrong”: Peter Baker, The Breach: Inside the Impeachment and Trial of William Jefferson Clinton (New York: Scribner, 2000), 32.
Paul Begala: Harris, Survivor, 342.
“I have fallen short”: Baker, Breach, 24–25.
“People don’t care about you”: Harris, Survivor, 343.
“It’s your speech, Bill”: Ibid., 344.
reading a text that he had written: Waldman, POTUS Speaks, 232.
Starr hoped to so appall: Harris, Survivor, 350.
As the 1999 State of the Union speech: Author interview with Josh Gottheimer.
Always aware that he was considered: Waldman, POTUS Speaks, 255.
“Without once uttering”: John M. Broder, “By Day and Night, an Argument for Survival,” New York Times, January 20, 1999.
Candidate Clinton had made this: Harris, Survivor, 44.
“muddling through”: Ibid., 51, 195–202.
Tom Malinowski: Author interview with Tom Malinowski.
he would amuse himself: Author interview with Paul Orzulak.
“If you think about the tools”: Author interview with Malinowski.
“I will not”: Except where noted, the account of the March 24, 1999, Kosovo speech comes from the author’s interview with Malinowski.
“If the TelePrompTer had failed”: Author interview with David Halperin.
“The implication of that”: Author interview with Malinowski.
“In his televised speech tonight”: R. W. Apple, Jr., “A Fresh Set of Goals,” New York Times, March 25, 1999.
The underlying assumption: Harris, Survivor, 368.
“Mr. Clinton’s aides said”: Steven Lee Myers, “Serb Forces in Kosovo Under Attack as Weather Clears,” New York Times, April 6, 1999.
“I’m not saying”: Author interview with Malinowski.
Berger recommended that: Harris, Survivor, 374–75.
He and Paul Glastris: Author interviews with Glastris and Shesol.
It was originally conceived: Ibid.
“No, no, no”: Author interview with Shesol.
He kept asking for more detail: Jeff Shesol, remarks at the Anschutz Lecture, Princeton University, April 22, 2002.
“What happened to salmonella?”: Ibid.
Edmonds was in his office: Author interviews with John Pollack and Edmonds.
12. “THE TROIKA”
“Did you see that?”: The account of the McConnell-Cheney meeting comes from author interview with John McConnell.
Matthew Scully was in his office: Author interview with Matthew Scully.
Michael Gerson, the director: Michael Gerson, “The View from the Top,” Newsweek, August 21–28, 2006; Michael Gerson, Heroic Conservatism: Why Republicans Need to Embrace American’s Ideals (And Why They Deserve to Fail if They Don’t) (New York: Harper One, 2007), 67–68.
but not before he had written: Robert Draper, Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush (New York: Free Press, 2007), 140.
“They’re evacuating this building”: David Frum, The Right Man: An Inside Account of the Bush White House (New York: Random House, 2005), 113–15.
“We’re just a couple of blocks”: Ibid., 116–17, 120.
Scully had wandered north: Author interview with Scully.
“was trying to crack the whip”: Ibid.
On speakerphone: Author interviews with Scully and McConnell.
They sent their text to Gerson: Frum, Right Man, 120.
“Our mission is reassurance”: Bob Woodward, Bush at War (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002), 30.
Hughes’s pastor had e-mailed her: Karen Hughes, Ten Minutes from Normal (New York: Viking, 2004), 244.
Standing between the White House: Author interview with McConnell.
At some point: Michael Gerson interview on ABC News’s Nightline, December 19, 2002.
“You need to get a good translation”: Hughes, Ten Minutes, 244.
And he tweaked the phrase: Woodward, Bush at War, 30.
“unequal to the moment”: Gerson , Heroic Conservatism, 69.
“stiff and small”: Gerson, “The View from the Top.”
“At the center of the speech”: Frum, Right Man, 126–27, 133.
Gerson drove in before dawn: Gerson, Heroic Conservatism, 70.
“the troika”: Matthew Scully, “Present at the Creation,” The Atlantic (September 07).
“owlish” appearance: D. T. Max, “The Making of the Speech,” New York Times, October 7, 2001.
“One of his great talents”: Author interview with McConnell.
Gerson was born in Belmont: Michael Gerson appearance on Q&A, C-SPAN, January 7, 2007.
“I’ve read your stuff”: Jeffrey Goldberg, “The Believer,” The New Yorker, February 13 and 20, 2006.
“an infectious confidence”: Gerson on Q&A.
“When you bring the West Texas”: Goldberg, “The Believer.”
He might chew on a pen: Frum, Right Man, 25.
In Austin, in April 1999: Author interview with Scully.
“the best writer”: Author interview with McConnell.
He “is the most interesting”: George Will, “A Conservative Case for Animal Rights,” Newsweek, July 18, 2005.
“I love the history”: Author interview with McConnell.
“Imagine a typical all-American”: Author interview with Joe Shattan.
“In his hands moral and religious”: Scully, “Present at the Creation.”
McConnell had a capacity for producing: Author interview with Scully.
“Usually when you’re a speechwriter”: Gerson Q&A.
The president made one apparent: Author interview with Scully.
“It is no small goal”: R. W. Apple, Jr., “President Seems to Gain Legitimacy,” New York Times, September 16, 2001.
“final victory over terrorism”: Dana Milbank and Dan Balz, “Bush Negotiates a Rhetorical Minefield,” Washington Post, September 20, 2001.
“I’m sure that the man”: Author interview with Scully.
He teared up: Gerson on Nightline.
“I hadn’t expected that”: Gerson on Q&A.
During the transition, a standard e-mail: Author interview with John Gibson.
“an extremely odd experience”: Ibid.
The Bush crowd ran things: Ibid.
“Good soul.”: Author interview with McConnell.
“America is united and strong”: Dan Balz and Bob Woodward, “A Presidency Defined in One Speech,” Washington Post, February 2, 2002.
“If we’ve done something”: Max, “The Making of the Speech.”
“I want it by 7”: Balz and Woodward, “A Presidency Defined in One Speech.”
set up in McConnell’s office: Author interview with McConnell.
“Darkness. Light”: Scully, “Present at the Creation.” Scully is sure the notes are from their meeting with Bush on September 13, and thinks that he and his colleagues may have started writing that day, but he is not certain. Contemporaneous press accounts have the work starting on Monday, September 17. (Author interview with Scully.)
They worked quickly: Max, “The Making of the Speech.”
“We were all Americans after 9/11”: Author interview with Tom Malinowski.
After a hesitant performance: Milbank and Balz, “Bush Negotiates a Rhetorical Minefield,” September 20, 2001. a
Malinowski tried to help: Author interview with Malinowski; copy of suggested remarks provided by Malinowski.
Gibson passed on: Author interview with Malinowski.
“There’s nothing wrong”: Ibid.
and it was in by 8 pm: Hughes, Ten Minutes, 257.
The writers suggested including: Max, “The Making of the Speech.”
“I don’t want to quote anyone!”: Draper, Dead Certain,
154.
“This is what my presidency is about”: Balz and Woodward, “A Presidency Defined in One Speech.”
Rice walked in: Max, “The Making of the Speech.”
As Gerson pulled into his driveway: Balz and Woodward, “A Presidency Defined in One Speech.”
“You all have smiles on your faces”: Max, “The Making of the Speech.”
He was feeling loose: Author interview with Scully.
“Isn’t that kind”: Draper, Dead Certain, 153; author interview with Scully.
“Let’s call the Congress”: Max, “The Making of the Speech.”
There had been some discussion: Ibid.
but Bush generally preferred: Author interview with Scully.
Rove had argued for: Max, “The Making of the Speech.”
He would notice if: Author interview with McConnell.
“Karl is a very serious”: Gerson on Q&A.
Bush ambled into the family theatre: Max, “The Making of the Speech.”
“What is this stuff?”: Scully, “Present at the Creation.”
He again made fun: Author interview with Scully.
“This crisis found us”: Matthew Scully, “Building a Better State of the Union,” New York Times, February 2, 2005.
“I probably rejected”: Hughes, Ten Minutes, 259.
He inserted “After all”: Max, “The Making of the Speech.”
He came to the end of the speech: Author interview with Scully.
Donald Rumsfeld was concerned: Balz and Woodward, “A Presidency Defined in One Speech.”
Bush had a second practice: Author interview with Scully.
“The Capitol looked as if”: Dana Milbank, “On Fortress Capitol Hill, United Roars of Approval,” The Washington Post, September 21, 2002.
As Laura Bush walked to her seat: Alison Mitchell, “Joint Congress Turned into a Showcase of Courage and Resolve,” New York Times, September 21, 2001.
This was an example: Scully, “Present at the Creation.”
“This is the great irony”: Author interview with Malinowski.
Secretary of State Colin Powell:: Balz and Woodward, “A Presidency Defined in One Speech.”
using another Hughes line: Max, “The Making of the Speech.”
“a little bit of a Hallmark touch.”: Author interview with Scully.
The “mission” line: Scully, “Present at the Creation.”
“I have never”: Gerson, Heroic Conservatism, 79.
“understood the importance of speechwriting”: Author interview with Scully.
“The President wants”: Gerson on Nightline.
“He would often say”: Author interview with Noam Neusner.
Bush “would always say”: Author interview with Scully.
“He’ll say, ‘Yeah the speech?’”: Author interview with McConnell.
“It’s just words, isn’t it”: Ibid.
Do not start sentences with the word: Ibid.
“He was very clear”: Author interview with Neusner.
“cram-ins”: Author interview with Scully.
“Bush decided that the United States”: Frum, Right Man, 231.
During the 2000 campaign: John Lancaster, “In Saddam’s Future, a Harder U.S. Line,” The Washington Post, June 3, 2000.
“No one envisioned”: Peter Baker, “Conflicts Shaped Two Presidencies,” Washington Post, December 31, 2006.
As early as February 2001: Alan Sipress and Dan Balz, “Bush Signals Escalation in Response to Hussein,” The Washington Post, February 17, 2001.
“his determination to dig”: Frum, Right Man, 26.
In the initial hours and days: Woodward, Bush at War, 49.
“Here’s an assignment”: Frum, Right Man, 224.
Frum was an odd choice: Ibid., 3–4, 43.
“a highly coscnientious person”: Scully, “Present at the Creation.”
The case could not merely be: Frum, Right Man, 234–35.
“terror organizations and the terror states”: Ibid., 234–37.
In early January, Bush huddled: Ibid., 223.
“back room of a cheap restaurant”: Scully, “Building a Better State of the Union.”
McConnell, who kept a supply: Author interview with McConnell.
“There was this unspoken sense of relief”: Ibid.
Throughout their collaboration: Author interview with Scully.
“Education speeches in particular”: Scully, “Present at the Creation.”
Gerson summed up the feeling: Author interview with Scully.
To Frum’s surprise: Frum, Right Man, 236.
The topic of weapons: Bob Woodward, Plan of Attack (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004), 87.
“I hate hatred”: Scully, “Present at the Creation.”
The three discussed it: Author interview with McConnell.
“The testosterone talk”: Tony Karon, “Tough Talking Bush Rattles Friend and Foe,” Time, February 2, 2002.
“He is using his war popularity”: Charles Krauthammer, “Redefining the War,” Washington Post, February 1, 2002.
Frum resigned: Frum, Right Man, 267.
Her e-mail had been forwarded: Timothy Noah, “David Frum’s Axis of Evil; Authorial Vanity Strikes the Bush White House,” Slate, February 5, 2002.
“the non-negotiable demands”: Draper, Dead Certain, 180–81.
Domestically, it kicked off: Peter Eisner, and Knut Royce, The Italian Letter: How the Bush Administration Used a Fake Letter to Build the Case for War in Iraq (New York: Rodale, 2007), 98–104.
Scully, who had taken a leave: Author interview with Scully.
“I’m not totally there yet”: Michael Isikoff, and David Corn, Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War (New York: Crown Publishers, 2006), 85.
“a reputation for pushing evidence”: Ibid., 85–86.
Joseph faxed Gibson: Ibid., 86.
There had been intense debate: Draper, Dead Certain, 181–82.
Gibson had worked on this: Isikoff and Corn, Hubris, 143.
The following day, the CIA sent: Eisner and Royce, Italian Letter, 107.
and others: Dana Milbank and Walter Pincus, “Bush Aides Disclose Warnings from CIA,” Washington Post, July 23, 2003; Woodward, Plan of Attack, 201.
“Remove the sentence because”: Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq, U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 55–56.
“should not be a fact witness”: Ibid., 56.
“You need to take this”: Woodward, Plan of Attack, 97.
“…More on why”: Report on the U.S. Intelligence Committee’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq, 55–57.
Gerson and Gibson wanted to include: Isikoff and Corn, Hubris, 143.
It was a Gerson creation: Ibid., 35, 42.
“These findings seemed very credible”: Author interview with Scully.
“this will be checked”: Ibid.
“We had stuff taken out”: Author interview with McConnell.
“I know that we often did overstate”: Author interview with Scully.
They felt that “it was more cautious”: Ibid.
Say where the evidence comes from: Isikoff and Corn, Hubris, 171.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, reviewing: Scully, “Building a Better State of the Union.”
Hadley and Gerson both later said: Eisner and Royce, Italian Letter, 115.
Tenet was given a hard copy: Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessment on Iraq, 64.
“The final conclusion was”: Author interview with McConnell.
McConnell was in bed: Ibid.
Karen Hughes was at home: Mike Allen, “Comforting Words as a Matter of Faith,” Washington Post, February 3, 2003.
In fact, he had not been to: Michael R. Gordon and Bernard E. Trainor, “Iraqi Leader, in Frantic Flights, Eluded U.S. Strikes,” New York Times, March 12, 2006.
According to t
he advocacy group: Douglas Jehl and Eric Schmitt, “Errors Are Seen in Early Attacks on Iraqi Leaders,” New York Times, June 13, 2004.
“one of the most audacious moments”: Elisabeth Bumiller, “Keepers of Bush Image Lift Stagecraft to New Heights,” New York Times, May 16, 2003.
Gerson came in with a copy: Scully, “Present at the Creation.”
“These are beautiful sentences”: Ibid.
Rumsfeld told Bob Woodward: Woodward, State of Denial, 186.
But according to Scully: Author interview with Scully.
Sforza spent several days: Bumiller, “Keepers of Bush Image Lift Stagecraft to New Heights.”
“Scott was simply reporting to us”: Author interview with Scully.
“That was the first time”: Author interview with McConnell.
“Mr. President, the first reports”: Baker, “Conflicts Shaped Two Presidencies.”
“There was no false confidence”: Author interview with Scully.
Bush put on a white cowboy hat: Ibid.
“I want this to be the freedom”: William Safire, “Bush’s ‘Freedom Speech,’” New York Times, January 21, 2005.
“The future of America”: Woodward, State of Denial, 371.
“a belief in the power and importance”: Gerson on Q&A.
On the morning of December 17: The account of Gerson’s heart attack comes from ibid.; and from Gerson, Heroic Conservatism, 222.
“I told you that budget was too extreme”: Goldberg, “The Believer.”
“I’m not calling to see”: Safire, “Bush’s ‘Freedom Speech.’”
“he was really asking”: Gerson on Q&A.
He and McConnell wrote the speech: Author interview with McConnell.
“I can’t wait”: Woodward, State of Denial, 377–78.
“No longer running for anything”: Nancy Gibbs, “Celebration and Dissent,” Time, January 24, 2005.
“among the top five”: Safire, “Bush’s ‘Freedom Speech.’”
“The inaugural address itself”: Peggy Noonan, “Way Too Much God; Was the President’s Speech a Case of ‘Mission Inebriation’?” Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2005.
“It is for historians”: Todd S. Purdum, “The President’s Speech Focuses on Ideals, Not the Details,” New York Times, January 21, 2005.
“White House officials said yesterday”: Dan Balz and Jim Vandehei, “Bush Speech Not a Sign of Policy Shift, Officials Say,” Washington Post, January 22, 2005.
“Two and a half years after”: Peter Baker, “As Democracy Push Falters, Bush Feels Like a Dissident,’” Washington Post, August 20, 2007.
White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters Page 67
