The Speechwriter: A Brief Education in Politics

This book was our book group selection for April 10, 2016. We all found the book interesting though not great literature. In general what we found interesting included the author revising his understanding of what it meant to be a good writer when faced with the need to adopt the voice of his boss and that that voice needed to speak to a particular conception of the audience the boss had that essentially required poor writing instead. This of course brings up the question regarding what good writing is when it obviously is context dependent. This book also shows what it is like working for a boss in one particular circumstance where the office is like a “fiefdom” as one of our group mentioned who had worked in similar circumstances. As Swaim points out it is a shame the character of the politician is not the same in both the face he presents to the public and to the staff. But here again there is the issue of context dependence. We are also given the clear indication this is a potentially successful politician that in the end was only hindered by a personal blunder that concerned his private life. We note as well that he remained governor of South Carolina and further serves in elected office as of our reading which means he is still successful and so probably treating staff as he had while presenting a different face to the voting public. So in this sense we also gain insights into this bipolar nature of at least one successful politician and wonder if it is a pattern repeated by others. Still another interesting aspect of the book concerns the voice of the governor as analyzed by Swaim and his fellow writers. Of note is the collection of words and phrases that were frequently used – so that a letter containing sentences of these in combinations “sounded” like the governor wrote it. It could even be difficult to know if one of the writers was responsible for a piece or if the governor had written it himself. In this regard I brought up the Postmodern Generator and the interesting question regarding Alan Sokal’s automatically generated works using the so called Dada Engine. Are we just using a data base which we run through an algorithm to produce a text? All in all, not good literature but certainly an interesting book which sparked an interesting discussion.

Pity the librarian's assistant. A miserable job some will endure much to escape. So it is with Barton Swaim, one-time speechwriter to Mark Sanford, former governor of South Carolina. All sorts of boorish behavior are just another day at the office, a bizarre workplace described with great humor and insight. Part memoir, part reflection upon politics and democracy, The Speechwriter is work on many levels. The insights fell fresh, the conclusions remarkably unbitter. At times it struck me as a bit self-serving but what memoir isn’t? Early days depict the thankless task of not improving speeches but learning to master catch vacuous or fatuous phrases. The Gov has an arsenal that when coupled with turgid prose make for positively goofy constituent letters, op ed pieces and talking points. I appreciated the insight that politicians are expected to comment upon a ridiculous number of topics and the best tactic is to avoid specifics and temporize. It’s not til two thirds in that we get to the salty tale of Sanford’s affair and public disgrace. The author doesn’t linger on the lurid but tells the story from the POV of Sanford’s staff-- how he damaged much more then himself with his arrogance and selfishness. The lesson learned is a practical one: never trust a politician. “…in his ruin he could not find more then the paltriest shred of genuine self-criticism.” It is a stunning and entirely believable observation. A very enjoyable read.

Mr. Swaim worked for three very, very unhappy years for Mark Sanford, and here is his account of why those years were so unhappy. Mr. Swaim tells the reader--repeatedly--about his doctorate in English and his writing skills, and spends even more time telling the reader about what an awful writer Mr. Sanford is. If you're a good writing nerd, and I kind of am, there's some good fun to be had in the mixed metaphors and dangling participles in Mr. Sanford's work. And Mr. Sanford seems to have been more than a bit of a jerk as a boss. He constantly interrupts Mr. Swaim as he is pitching ideas for speeches, and is regularly curt and dismissive. And the incident with the birthday cake is just astounding. It seems the crux of the problem is that Mr. Sanford wants his speeches written in a certain manner, and Mr. Swaim considers that manner bad writing and simply doesn't want write that way. Mr. Sanford and Mr. Swain go round and round until word gets back to Mr. Swain that he may be replaced, and then he gets with the program. The author assures the reader in the very beginning that this book is not written as payback or to settle scores. And then the author spends a great deal of time getting payback and settling scores. Certainly Mr. Sanford, if all in the book is true, is not a nice man to his staff. Everybody is under pressure of some sort, and it seems that most of us behave in a much better way towards others than Mr. Sanford does. At the same time, once I finished this and put it down I couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for Mr. Sanford. The author's outrage and disgust at Mr. Sanford's affair seems a bit much. Mr. Swaim is constantly telling the reader about his education and knowledge of history, and then he is shocked, shocked that his boss is having an affair. Really? Mr. Sanford does not handle the press conference about the affair in the right manner, but when is such a thing ever done in a good way? Mr. Swaim goes on and on about the mistakes Mr. Sanford made, about how he is a buffon, how he has a minor speech impediment--really, in 2015 we are still making fun of people with speech impediments?--and all sorts of other things. And yet--and the author kind of admits this--Mr. Sanford is out there in the ring and is trying and he is taking on some matters very principled stands and is taking lots of heat for doing so. Mr. Sanford is trying to lead, and Mr. Swaim is sitting there like a Monday morning quarterback, pointing out that Mr. Sanford should have said this or done that. It's a well-written book and it's a quick read. The best parts are in the reviews in the newspapers, but even so there's some good stuff in there. Mr. Swaim set out to paint Mr. Sanford as a monster--and he's not terribly kind to his co-workers either--but I actually came away with a bit of sympathy for the man.

Not a fan of politics, but love good writing. What a pleasure to read this book and benefit from Swaim's understanding of the system, expressed without affectation or guile. I learned a lot and laughed even more.

This is an entertaining insight into the practices of communication in politics. The book gives readers interested in the process of politics insights into the working lives of the drudges who write the letters, speeches and opinion pieces for elected officials, struggling to be vacuous in the "voice" of their boss. The book is also of value to readers interested in the practice of strategic communication, describing how the comms team dealt with the governor disappearing to Buenos Aires to hike the Appalachian trail. This episode gives the book its focus and is well used to highlight how post-crisis certain words became unusable, including "honesty", "integrity" and "Argentina", and the conflict between disenchantment with the governor and a reflexive defence of the governor from attacks by his enemies. Swaim writes beautifully, with a near perfect balance between capturing his subjective reactions and a description of the objective circumstances.

To all who've worked in the communications engine room, helping leaders present themselves to the public, Barton Swaim gives a voice. And while his Governor's antics may be extreme, the tantrums, inanity and ego all strike a chord. Should be compulsory reading for all trainee political aides and PR people.

authentic

A decent look at life with a US politician - in fact, slice of life is exactly what it is - but there's little hard-earned insight or realisation with it. OK for less than a fiver and as an alternative to the more heavyweight books out there.