White House Ghosts

Confident Optimism in Foreign Policy

Robert Schlesinger | Posted 06.10.2008 | Politics

Read More: U.S. News & World Report, Iran, John Kennedy, Israel, Jfk, White House Ghosts, Presidential Rhetoric, Foreign Policy, John F. Kennedy, Politics News
Robert Schlesinger

There are two fundamental schools of thought on foreign policy: suppose the Israelis launch a preemptive attack against Iran -- what does the United States do?

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Scott McClellan and the Cases for Resignation or Betrayal

Robert Schlesinger | Posted 05.30.2008 | Politics

Read More: Scott McClellan George Bush, White House Ghosts, Scott Mcclellan, What Happened, Scott McClellan Book, Ghost Writing, Politics News
Robert Schlesinger

There are two schools of thought forming inside regarding Scott McClellan's bombshell book: Either he should have resigned then, or he's been coopted by nefarious forces (read: liberal publishers).

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Karl Rove and the Media-Politico Revolving Door: It Goes Further Back than Stephanopoulos

Robert Schlesinger | Posted 05.12.2008 | Media

Read More: Newsweek, Time, Karl Rove, Pundits, Dwight Eisenhower, Bill Clinton, US News & World Report, Fdr, White House Ghosts, George Stephanopoulos, Jfk, Punditry, Franklin Roosevelt, Presidential Speechwriting, Media News
Robert Schlesinger

The New York Times traces the trend as far back as George Stephanopoulos's switch from the Clinton White House to ABC News, but it goes much further back.

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Memo to Tom Hanks: Barack Obama Is No Harry Truman

Robert Schlesinger | Posted 05.05.2008 | Politics

Read More: Reagan, Barack Obama, Kennedy, Tom Hanks, John F. Kennedy, Spechwriting, Ronald Reagan, Presidential Rhetoric, White House Ghosts, Roosevelt, Jfk, Fdr, Franklin Roosevelt, Politics News
Robert Schlesinger

If elected, Obama, could become a magic speaker in the vein of the Big Three; the extent to which he can go off-the-cuff in a Trumanesque manner remains unclear.

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Ask not why words matter, ask when they mattered most

Robert Schlesinger | Posted 05.02.2008 | Politics

Read More: John F. Kennedy, Cuban Missile Crisis, American History, John Kennedy, Speechwriting, Kennedy, Schlesinger, Presidential Rhetoric, White House Ghosts, Jfk, Robert Schlesinger, Ted Sorensen, Presidents, Presidential Speechwriting, Politics News
Robert Schlesinger

Words do matter and few presidents knew this better than JFK (who of course also understood that rhetorical power has its limits). How JFK came up wi...

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Ooh, ooh, look at me!

Robert Schlesinger | Posted 05.02.2008 | Entertainment

Read More: White House Ghosts, Presidential Rhetoric, Robert Schlesinger, Daily Show, Speechwriting, Jon Stewart, Entertainment News
Robert Schlesinger

What a week. There were book parties. Then there was the Daily Show on Wednesday night discussing White House Ghostsx-- quite the charge. I blogged...

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Obama's Pivot

Robert Schlesinger | Posted 04.29.2008 | Politics

Read More: Jeremiah Wright, Daily Show, Barack Obama, White House Ghosts, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Jon Stewart, Obama Sister Souljah, Sister Souljah, Politics News
Robert Schlesinger

If Wright continues to make a spectacle of himself, so much the better. Obama can roll his eyes, sympathize that the crazy uncle was loonier than anyone realized and continue to condemn him.

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Bush's Secret Speechwriter

Robert Schlesinger | Posted 04.12.2008 | Politics

Read More: Presidential Rhetoric, White House Ghosts, Presidential Speechwriting, Politics News
Robert Schlesinger

A president owns his words, but he does not always know where he got them. A president owns his words, but he does not always know where he got them.

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Being Judged

Robert Schlesinger | Posted 04.12.2008 | Media

Read More: Book Reviews, Political Rhetoric, White House Ghosts, Presidential Rhetoric, Presidential Speechwriting, Media News
Robert Schlesinger

It's a strange thing, reading your first book review. You want to rush through it, find the judgment. You force yourself to read it in full. And of course you look for the pull quote.

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