Fr. 24.50

Barton Swaim

The Speechwriter - A Brief Education in Politics

English · Paperback / Softback

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Description

Zusatztext “A candid! witty look inside the world of high-stakes politics. . . . A humorous and sobering glimpse inside the modern political crucible.” Informationen zum Autor Barton Swaim, attended the University of South Carolina and the University of Edinburgh. From 2007 to 2010 he worked for Mark Sanford, South Carolina's governor, as a communications officer and speech-writer. He lives in Columbia with his wife, Laura, and three daughters, and writes regularly for the Wall Street Journal and the Times Literary Supplement. Klappentext Everyone knows this kind of politician: a charismatic maverick who goes up against the system and its ways, but thinks he doesn't have to live by the rules. Through his own experience as a speechwriter for a controversial governor, Barton Swaim tells the story of a band of believers who attach themselves to this sort of ambitious narcissist-and what happens when it all comes crashing down. Swaim paints a portrait of a boss so principled he'd rather sweat than use state money to pay for air conditioning, so oblivious he'd wear the same stained shirt for two weeks, so egotistical he'd belittle his staffers to make himself feel better, and so self-absorbed he never once apologized to his staff for making his administration the laughingstock of the country. On the surface, this is the story of one politician's rise and fall. But in the end, it's a story about us-the very real people who want to believe in our leaders and must learn to survive with broken hearts.The Speechwriter 1 THE DUMPS About twenty of us sat in the conference room waiting for the boss to walk in. The room was warm and smelled faintly of sweat. A pair of law clerks quietly debated the correct pronunciation of “debacle.” At last Paul asked what the meeting was about. “I think,” June said, “the governor wants to apologize to the staff.” She said it with a wry look, but nobody laughed. Stewart looked up from a magazine. “He already did that,” he snapped. “He apologized to his mistress, and to his family—.” “In that order,” Paul said. Nervous laughter made its way around the room. “I don’t think we can handle another apology,” Stewart went on, throwing down the magazine. “Because let me tell you, I know what an apology from this governor sounds like, and it ain’t really an apology. It’s more like—.” He paused. Someone said, “More like what?” “I’ll just put it this way. His apologies tend to have an unapologetic tone.” Another minute passed, and then the governor walked in. All went silent. He sat in the only remaining chair and made jokes with one of the interns. A week before, he had been openly talked about by influential commentators in New York and Washington as a presidential candidate. In national media reports, his name had been routinely used in conjunction with the terms “principled stand,” “courageous,” “crazy,” “unbalanced,” and “interesting.” The party’s biggest donors had begun to call him and to pay him visits. Now he was the punch line to a thousand jokes; letters demanding his resignation appeared in newspapers; the word “impeachment” circulated through the capital like rumors of an assassination plot. “How are y’all?” he said. “Wait—don’t answer that.” More nervous laughter. “Aahh.” That was his preface to saying anything significant. “Aahh. But that’s why I called you in here. I just wanted to say the obvious, which is the obvious.” Paul gave me a look of incomprehension. “I mean, the obvious—which is that I caused the storm we’re now in. And that’s made everything a little more difficult for everybody in here, and for that I want to say the

Product details

Authors	Barton Swaim
Publisher	Simon & Schuster USA

Languages	English
Product format	Paperback / Softback
Released	30.06.2016

EAN	9781476769943
ISBN	978-1-4767-6994-3
Dimensions	145 mm x 215 mm x 15 mm
Subjects	Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Biographies, autobiographies Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education

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