MBB: If a young person wanted to grow up and become a political or presidential speechwriter, what would you recommend that they do right now?
Date: 2015-10-07; view: 467.
MBB: Do you have favorite inaugural addresses—favorite presidential speeches?
TSL: I have many favorite presidential speeches, but one that is most pertinent today is Franklin Roosevelt's first inaugural address, which I'm sure President-elect Obama and Jon Favreau, his speechwriter, are reading and re-reading as we speak.
On March 4, 1933 Franklin Roosevelt stood on the East Front of the United States Capitol and said, “The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.”
“Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.”
(For a primary source account of President Franklin Roosevelt's first inauguration and first inaugural address go to: www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,745290,00.html)
TSL: Read. Write. Read poetry. Read history. Keep a broad perspective on how things work, how the political process works, how it affects the lives of people. See how the pieces fit together. Work in city government, town government, county government, state government to appreciate just how local politics really is. Learn the issues, all the issues, a little bit about everything, but not enough to get so lost in the weeds of any one issue that you lose sight of the human side, those things that touch the human spirit and warm the human heart. The best speechwriters are generalists who understand the issues, appreciate their historic significance, poets-at-heart who always see the big picture and can bring a particular vision to the policies and programs of a candidate.
Read. Write. You can't do those things enough.
Here men from the planet earth first set foot upon the moon in July 1969. We came in peace for all mankind. - James Humes
In 1969, President Nixon asked his speechwriter, James Humes, to compose an inscription for the plaque that would be placed and left on the moon as a memorial to Apollo 11's historical lunar landing.
Humes, who has collected hundreds of quotes from some of the greatest, set his own place in the history of dialogue when he wrote, Here men first set foot. We came for all mankind.
Professor James Humes has also set foot upon many extraordinary paths on his own journey among all of mankind. He was the only White House speechwriter who wrote for five presidents: Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan and the elder Bush.
Humes is an actor, a lawyer, a former Pennsylvania representative and U.S. diplomat, a published author, an authority on Winston Churchill and one of the top speakers in the United States. He has spoken in 40 different countries.
He is currently a Ryals Professor of Language and Leadership for the Hasan School of Business at Colorado State University in Pueblo, where he teaches The Language of Leadership - a subject he embraces from personal experience.
Humes was the director of the U.S. Department of States' Office of Policy and Plans, and, when he was practicing law, he served as president of the Philadelphia Bar Association. To further solidify his role as a leader, Humes was awarded America's most outstanding orator on political themes by the Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge.
President Ford engaged Humes' expertise as he wrote his memoirs from Vail, Colo. As President Ford's advisor and editor, Humes conceived the book's title, A Time to Heal.
On his own, Humes has written 30 books, including 10 on the art of speaking and five on Winston Churchill, whom he portrayed in the 1986 PBS production Blood, Sweat and Tears. Humes' biography of Churchill was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. One would think Churchill is alive and well to hear Humes impersonation of the English statesman, whom Humes references as the greatest speaker of the last century.
Humes is also a master of the language, a colorful and buoyant orator and commands an Academy Award-winning personification of a few of his past presidential bosses.
Humes penchant for the stage started when he was a young teenager. At age 13, with a desire to be the president of the United States, Humes wrote and rehearsed on a homemade podium in front of a mirror his own inaugural speech.
Humes' father died at age 41; his youngest son, James, was just eight years old. Humes' father made his own mark in history as the only Pennsylvania judge who voluntarily slept in every jail in the state prior to his term on the bench. Following in his father's footsteps, Humes initially chose a career in law, graduating from George Washington Law School. From the courtroom to the podium, Humes has achieved his goal of wanting to try everything once.
On Oct. 14 at The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Humes presented the first of a four-part series on the Language of Leadership. The next three are scheduled at The Broadmoor for the following Tuesday evenings: Oct. 21, Oct. 28 and Nov. 4.
Humes sat down with the CSBJ on Oct. 7 at the El Paso Club and talked about his life and passions.
CSBJ: Who was your favorite president?
Humes: I most enjoyed Nixon. He was always involved in the speech- writing process, and he often said to me, You can do better. It challenged me. Nixon was an intellectual and an introvert. He would have been better suited as a professor.
CSBJ: How did you become a presidential speechwriter?
Humes: Most speechwriters were left of the center, and I was conservative. I figured if I wrote speeches for the Republican presidents, I would have less competition. And I was already in the political circle as a state representative.
CSBJ: Which one do you prefer: speaking or writing books?
Humes: You get immediate gratification as a speaker, but writing a book gives you immortality. It's as close as you get (as a man) to being a mother in labor and giving birth.
CSBJ: What is the key to good public speaking?
Humes: You must master the matter and master the material. Focus on a subject and know more than anyone else in the room. Keep the audience interested and entertained.
CSBJ: Do you ever get the butterflies?
Humes: Only when something changes at the last minute. I was paid $15,000 to present a 45-minute speech at the World Association of Travel Agents in London. Margaret Thatcher was following me, and she told the host, I'm the star here, cut him (Humes) to ten minutes. I had three minutes to regroup. I always recall the voice of Churchill, Only a fool's not afraid to be shot at.
CSBJ: What do you think are the best traits of a leader?
Humes: Reagan was asked this question, and he said leadership was 80 percent communication. I don't see how you can be a leader without the ability to sell and inspire, which is communication.
CSBJ: What motivates you?
Humes: Always in my life, I chose adventure over security, challenge over safety.
CSBJ: What is the biggest challenge facing education?
Humes: I don't think parents should rely on the schools. Education starts in the home. Teaching standards have become lazy, and the English language is too lax.
CSBJ: You and your wife raised two successful children. Any advice?
Humes: You have to sometimes be a little child. Never inhibit a child's imagination, and keep your own creative, childlike side.
CSBJ: How have you maintained a long and happy marriage?
Humes: I've always tried to remember what my wife was dealing with last. What was or is important to her? If I listen and ask questions, it makes up for a lot of what I don't do.
CSBJ: What is one of your favorite books?
Humes: Emerson's Essays
CSBJ: What do you think is the key to success?
Humes: Like what you do. Churchill once said to his daughter, Do what you like, like what you do.