Speechwriter?

What’s a better news source than the Daily Show with John Stewart? Sure, there are better sources of objective, credible news sources, but there may not be a better place to see a guest interviewed by Mr. Stewart himself. On his most recent episode that aired last night, John Stewart interviewed Saffire’s Political Dictionary author William Saffire. Saffire was the speech writer for President Nixon, so he knows a thing or two about PR.

In the interview, Saffire mentions how speech writers should never take credit for their work, which got me thinking a bit about how public relations works in the grand political scope.
So, if speech writers pretty much write word for word what the president has to say, then isn’t it fair to say that it is the PR representative plays the role of president when writing his speeches? It sounds a bit confusing, and I don’t quite view a speechwriter as the puppeteer for the president, but it is close to that. I mean, if you think about some of the most famous political speeches in history, it wasn’t even the President’s own words. Political speeches are the words of the speechwriter, with the officials policies intertwined.

So, I guess it took me to the age of 22 to discover this little fact. And it took a subtle reference in a satirical show on Comedy Central to learn that presidents have speechwriters. I guess some things aren’t taught in school. Give me back my tuition, CSU.