Questioning the Judson C. Welliver Society
For our second and longest paper, we were to choose any topic relating to the election and produce an academic research paper.
I spent a great deal of time trying to come up with the perfect topic—for a while I was deadset on writing about some aspect of foreign affairs—but I was finally satisfied when I settled on the topic of presidential speechwriters. I’ve always been intrigued by the position, a sort of Singing in the Rain, man behind the curtain, ventriloquist relationship that you often wonder about but rarely get answers on.
Once I began my research, it wasn’t hard to find information on Obama’s Director of Speechwriting, Jon Favreau; I found numerous articles, interviews, even a documentary in which his college professors were interviewed. As a political character, he intrigued me, being one of the youngest staff workers, yet having one of the most important jobs. As a writer, I think the thing I looked forward to most in the past election was listening to Obama’s speeches, known for their great construction as well as beautiful delivery, but it wasn’t until I wrote this paper that I learned I also owe admiration to Favreau.
When it came time to research Romney’s ghostwriter, I could barely find any material. Granted, he hasn’t led the country for the past four years, but still, the only speechwriter-like relationship I could identify was between Romney and his eccentric strategist Stuart Stevens. It was clear that, unlike Obama, Romney wanted the American people to believe he could handle everything on his own—which made a great premise for the paper, a comparison between the current candidates in this aspect.
However, my first draft ended up consisting of 10 pages of Favreau vs. Stevens, which didn’t really add up to a wholesome conclusion. After trying to tweak the paper in a variety of different ways, I became really frustrated with the topic. I turned to my professor for advice, and after working out a new direction for the paper, I took the research I had gathered on Favreau and Stevens, filed it down, and inserted it into new parameters: a look at the history of Presidential speechwriters, an analysis of Presidential speeches, and finally a decision on whether figures like Favreau, Stevens, or JFK’s Ted Sorenson really even matter to the process itself.
Caroline L. S. 