Wordsmithing for Secretary Rice

Taking someone else's thoughts and ideas and turning them into a coherent, potentially inspiring speech is never easy. Now imagine that your boss' words will be listened to by nearly every country in the world looking for any evidence of a change in direction of United States foreign policy. Here is an article of a young man who caught the attention of the new Secretary of State and quickly handpicked to be her chief speechwriter.

Christian D. Brose's rise to the heights of Washington speechwriting could have been scripted in Hollywood. A year ago, Brose was the most junior speechwriter at the State Department. When Condoleezza Rice was nominated to be secretary of state after the 2004 election, the then-national security adviser summoned the State Department speechwriting team to the White House for a discussion of her confirmation hearings.
The team went over, not sure they would hold their jobs for much longer. To their surprise, they were ushered into the White House situation room. The conversation meandered and seemed uninspired, Rice aides said, until the 25-year-old Brose shyly raised his hand and offered a suggestion that, for Rice, crystallized her foreign policy themes.

"Who is that young red-haired kid?" Rice asked one of her senior advisers, Jim Wilkinson, as they left the room. "Let's keep an eye on him."

A star was born.

Brose, now 26, was recently named Rice's chief speechwriter. He is responsible for many of the major speeches she has delivered around the world to advance the administration's message of spreading democracy, earning the admiration of Rice's top aides. "Chris can write her voice better than anyone," Wilkinson said. "He's become one of her closest advisers on policy and communications."

The importance of a connection between a public official and their speech writer can not be over estimated.

What were you doing at 26 years old?