Michael Gerson
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Michael John Gerson (born May 15, 1964, New Jersey) is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.[1]. He served as President George W. Bush's chief speechwriter from 2001-2006 until June 2006, and as a senior policy advisor from 2000 through June 2006. A member of the White House Iraq Group,[2] Gerson was called "the conscience of the White House" by some admirers.
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[edit] Background and Family
Gerson graduated from Westminster Christian Academy and Wheaton College, Illinois.
He resides with his wife, Dawn Soon Gerson (born December 12, 1963), a Republican congressional aide, and their two children in Alexandria, Virginia.
In December, 2004, Gerson suffered a heart attack at the age of 39, but was successfully treated and soon returned to work.
[edit] Career
Prior to joining the Bush Administration, he was a senior policy advisor with The Heritage Foundation, a conservative public policy research institution.
Gerson was named by Time as one of "The 25 Most Influential Evangelicals In America" in the magazine's February 7, 2005 issue of the magazine, listing Gerson as the ninth most influential.[3]
On June 14, 2006, it was announced that Gerson was leaving the White House to pursue other writing and policy work. [4] Gerson is particularly interested in faith-based initiatives, AIDS in Africa, and poverty issues. He was replaced as Bush's chief speechwriter by WSJ chief editor William McGurn
On September 11, 2006, The Washington Post announced that Gerson would begin writing a twice-weekly column for the paper in early 2007.[5]
[edit] Speeches
Gerson's noteworthy phrases for Bush included "axis of evil," "the soft bigotry of low expectations" and "the armies of compassion." During a September 5, 2002 meeting of the White House Iraq Group, Gerson proposed the use of a "smoking gun/mushroom cloud" metaphor to sell the American public on the supposed nuclear dangers posed by Saddam Hussein. According to Newsweek columnist Michael Isikoff, "The original plan had been to place it in an upcoming presidential speech, but WHIG members fancied it so much that when the Times reporters contacted the White House to talk about their upcoming piece [about aluminum tubes], one of them leaked Gerson's phrase — and the administration would soon make maximum use of it."[6]
Gerson has said one of his favorite speeches was given at the National Cathedral on September 14, 2001, a few days after the September 11, 2001 attacks, which included the following passage: "Grief and tragedy and hatred are only for a time. Goodness, remembrance, and love have no end. And the Lord of life holds all who die, and all who mourn." [7]
[edit] References
- ^ Naomi Schaefer Riley. "Mr. Compassionate Conservatism", The Wall Street Journal, 2006-10-21.
- ^ Isikoff, Michael, David Corn (2006-09-08). Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-307-34681-1.
- ^ "The 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America", TIME, 2005-02-07.
- ^ "Longtime Bush Speechwriter Leaving White House", Associated Press, 2006-06-14.
- ^ PRNewswire (2006-09-11). Gerson to Join The Washington Post Op-Ed Page in Early 2007. Press release.
- ^ Hubris, page 35
- ^ Jim Rutenberg. "Adviser Who Shaped Bush's Speeches Is Leaving", New York Times, 2006-06-15.
