The brain behind Obama's speeches (LAT)

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-speechwriter-20100903,0,6054777.story

September 3, 2010
The brain behind Obama's speeches
Adam Frankel, a 29-year-old responsible for oratories on healthcare, the West Virginia mine explosion and more, dismisses criticism that the president's prose has become uninspiring.
By Peter Nicholas, Los Angeles Times

A president governs in prose, but every now and then some poetry slips through. Speaking in West Virginia after an explosion killed 29 coal miners, President Obama talked about the victims: "Most days they would emerge from the dark mine, squinting at the light. Most days, they would emerge, sweaty, dirty, dusted with coal. Most days, they would come home. Most days, but not that day." The words came from Adam Frankel, a young White House speechwriter. Over the last 20 months he has developed a niche in death and disaster, a specialist in language that assuages grief... Frankel has written speeches for the president honoring police officers killed on duty. He wrote the eulogy that Obama gave for Sen. Robert C. Byrd... He began working for Obama's presidential campaign in 2007, alongside speechwriters Jon Favreau and Ben Rhodes. They were deemed brilliant when Obama was winning caucuses. Now, with the president's approval rating plummeting, the White House faces mounting scrutiny and speechwriters aren't immune...

With oval-rim glasses and closed-cropped brown hair, Frankel, a Princeton graduate, seems older than 29. He comes from a family with deep roots in Washington politics and government. His father worked for the United Nations in Washington. His great uncle is former FCC Chairman Newton Minow. Paternal grandfather Stanley Frankel wrote speeches for former Democratic presidential candidates Adlai Stevenson, Robert F. Kennedy and George McGovern. None went on to become president. So after the younger Frankel finished up a stint in Sen. John F. Kerry's failed presidential campaign in 2004, he got some teasing from his family... Frankel works out of an office next door to the White House along with four other writers. His work space is cluttered with old newspapers, magazines and edited speech drafts. He is a walking anthology of Kennedy quotes — useful to the team — and keeps a bust of the 35th president on his desk... Each week Frankel writes one or two speeches, some of which deal with routine policy. But the White House seems to grasp his interests and divvies up assignments accordingly. Axelrod said that Frankel isn't the first option for a campaign-style speech. But when a speech calls for a historical reference or carries a moral component, Frankel often gets tapped.

Before sitting down to write, he consults clergymen and scholars. A common Frankel device is to work in a quote from the Bible. Speaking to a police memorial service in May, Obama closed with a verse from the Book of Proverbs. "The wicked flee when no man pursueth; but the righteous are as bold as a lion."... The writers meet regularly with Axelrod to go over edits and discuss upcoming assignments, but they also spend a fair amount of time with Obama. Frankel worked closely with the president on the speech given at Byrd's funeral service. Most of Obama's concerns centered on how to address Byrd's infamous stint in the Ku Klux Klan. The president wanted to mention that he had once discussed the issue with Byrd. The speech never explicitly mentioned the Klan, but it made Obama's intent clear: "We know there are things he said and things he did that he came to regret. I remember talking about that the first time I visited with him. He said, 'There are things I regretted in my youth, you may know that.' And I said, 'None of us are absent some regrets, senator; that's why we enjoy and seek the grace of God.'"...

Frankel also collaborated with Obama on a speech to the American Medical Assn. making the case for healthcare reform... As the main writer, Frankel gave Obama a draft and the president made revisions. Aboard Air Force One midway to the medical association gathering in Chicago, Obama came back to the staff section of the plane, pointed to Frankel and asked him into the conference room, where former budget director Peter Orszag and healthcare specialist Nancy-Ann DeParle were waiting... The plane was close to touching down. With little time remaining, Orszag read aloud the changes the president had made. Frankel typed them out on his laptop and sent the final draft on to the Teleprompter just before the entourage boarded helicopters for the short flight from the airport into the city. "Make no mistake," Obama told the doctors, "the cost of our healthcare is a threat to our economy. It is an escalating burden on our families and businesses. It is a ticking time-bomb for the federal budget. And it is unsustainable for the United States of America." It was a vintage Obama speech. Well argued and comprehensive. There's even a catchy sound bite: "a ticking time-bomb."...