Edward (Ted) Ladd Widmer (born 1963) is a historian, writer, and librarian, who served as a speechwriter in the later days of the Clinton White House.
His parents were Eric G. Widmer and Ellen B. Widmer. As of 1992, his father was working as Dean of Admissions and financial aid at Brown University, and his mother was an Associate Professor of Asian Languages and Literatures at Wesleyan University. Ted Widmer obtained an A.B. in the history and literature of France and the United States, an A.M. in history, and a Ph.D. in the history of American civilization from Harvard University. In 1992 he married Mary Frederica Rhinelander, a printmaker and figurative artist,[1] who also had appeared in a band in the Harvard rock scene, the Velvetones. Widmer was appointed lecturer on history and literature at Harvard University from 1993 until 1997. He then spent a few years working with Bill Clinton, both during and after Clinton's presidency. He was the special assistant to the president for national security affairs, writing foreign policy speeches, and subsequently was the senior advisor to the president for special projects, advising on history and scholarship related issues. He conducted interviews with Clinton while Clinton was writing his autobiography.
He was the first director of the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience[2] and an associate professor of history at Washington College from 2001. On July 1, 2006 he was appointed director and librarian of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University.[3]
From 1995 until 1997 he played guitar and vocals in a Boston hard rock band, the Upper Crust.[4]