What It’s Really Like to Be a Presidential Speechwriter

Jeff Nussbaum reviews West Wing Writers alum David Litt’s memoir of working in the Obama White House.

Essay for Washington Monthly

Trump Steps Onto World Stage with Maiden UN Speech

If Trump were restrained and measured, would it be believable? “We know what his authentic voice sounds like,” Vinca LaFleur says, “and it is very different from what is scripted for him.”

Interview with Yahoo News

Trump Abandons the Bully Pulpit

No President in modern memory has made more noise. Yet no President in modern memory has given fewer speeches to lesser effect.

Essay for The New Yorker

Why Tyrion Lannister Is a Master Diplomat

Tyrion has the three elements you see in most great diplomats: pragmatism, the ability to turn strategy into concrete actions, and a bit of a drinking problem.

Essay on Medium

In addition to writing for clients, we’ve written our own books to wide acclaim, contributed op-eds and articles to newspapers and online news outlets, and appeared internationally on TV and radio news programs. Here is some of our recent work.

Lessons in International Development from a Forgotten Village

West Wing Writers intern Brooke Davies reflects on what working with elephants in Thailand taught her about international development.

Essay for Social Connectedness

Were Donald Trump Jr.’s Actions on the Campaign Illegal?

Riley Roberts joins Australia’s ABC News to discuss the release of emails that show Donald Trump Jr. welcomed Russian help against Hillary Clinton.

Interview with ABC News

John F. Kennedy: An Idealist Without Illusions

Lines must be drawn; Donald Trump must be resisted. But he will not likely be defeated until there is room again, in politics, for idealists “without illusions,” as Kennedy once described himself.

Essay for the New York Times

What Kind of Loyalty Does a President Need?

With Republicans on the Hill growing restive, and with the Russia investigation now in the experienced hands of a former F.B.I. director, Trump may be about to find out how loyal his people are willing to be.

Essay for The New Yorker

Reaction from Washington as Donald Trump Fires FBI Director

Riley Roberts, formerly of the Department of Justice, discusses President Trump’s abrupt firing of FBI Director James Comey.

Interview with BBC Radio 5

Why I Won’t Stop Talking About My Abortion

Essay for Cosmopolitan

Can President Trump Learn on the Job?

Essay for The New Yorker

Trump’s Speech to Congress Was Not “Normal”

Essay for The New Yorker

Advice for Trump Ahead of Congress Address

Interview with Fox News

What Should Trump Tell Congress?

Interview with Politico

Press Releases

West Wing Writers Welcomes New Staff

November 20, 2013

West Wing Writers Welcomes New Staff, Congratulates Alumni Named to Obama Team

June 24, 2013

How Much Gets Done From State of the Union Speeches?

The speeches subtly set up longer-term fights that will play out well after a president leaves office, Jeff tells NPR. “They send a shot across the bow in a battle that may not be won for a couple of years.”

Interview with NPR

Scripting the State of the Union

Jeff Shesol joins fellow presidential speechwriters Jon Favreau and Mary Kate Cary to preview the president’s big speech.

Interview with Sidewire

In Final State of the Union Address, Obama Aims to Set Tone for ’16 Campaign

A president in his eighth year no longer has the same commanding voice he once did, Jeff Shesol tells the New York Times. “He doesn’t get to pick the terms of the debate precisely; he gets to influence them broadly.”

Interview with the New York Times

Obama’s State of the Union Balancing Act

An eighth-year State of the Union is an ambivalent exercise. During the postwar period, each of the five two-term presidents — Truman, Eisenhower, Reagan, Clinton, and George W. Bush — has struggled to get the balance right.

Essay for The New Yorker

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