CANADIAN SPEECHWRITERS ANALYZE BIDEN'S WORDS
A group of Canadians known as The Leonard Brockington Society of Canadian Political Speechwriters (after the man believed to be one of the first prime ministerial speechwriters) weighs in on new U.S. President Joe Biden's inauguration speech
Dr. Tom Axworthy, speechwriter (and principal secretary) to prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau:
I give (Joe Biden's) speech high marks for having a very clear narrative and one entirely appropriate to the serious situation facing the United States. Unity was the theme of the speech and the line that will be likely remembered was “We must end this uncivil war.” While facing up to the divisions of his country, Biden also struck an optimistic note by referencing history: “Forces that divide us are real and deep. But they are not new.” The United States has overcome division in the past, he said, and it can do so again.
While not criticizing his predecessor directly, Biden's second theme was the necessity to tell the truth: “We must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.” Much less mentioned was the campaign theme of the role of government, though Biden argued “Some days you need a hand ... other days you lend a hand.”
I was not surprised that Biden quoted the Bible and St. Augustine, but I was surprised that songwriter Norah Jones made the pantheon with quotes from her song American Anthem. So, the speech was quintessential Joe Biden: warm-hearted, sincere, hoping for the best. The occasion was memorable, the speech, as a speech, less so, but the narrative reassuring and clear. “My whole soul is in it,” Biden pledged. Godspeed, echoes the world.
Sally Barnes, press secretary, writer and assistant to Ontario premier William Davis:
Let's agree that Biden as an orator is not in the same league as predecessors like Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. He is not a Martin Luther King, who can stir the hearts of millions, but rather more like a smalltown parish priest who grants absolution and preaches love and forgiveness. He is America's Mr. Rogers, who may not inspire greatness in others but sets a gold standard for decent behaviour and love of country and lets people go to sleep at night believing everything is going to be OK. He quotes St. Augustine, Abraham Lincoln, the Bible and his “mama.”
Women outnumbered male participants at the inaugural by a large margin. Homespun took over pretence in the pretentious city. Lady Gaga and Garth Brooks had leading roles that would have been occupied by higher brows during inaugurals gone by. All in all, I was comforted by the events, limited as they were by the circumstances of insurrection, pandemic etc.
For those who worry about
Joe Biden's age and health, rest comfortably knowing that he has a vice-president willing and able to take over. Mitch McConnell and the boys should not mess with Kamala Harris!
Paul Heinbecker, ambassador who worked with prime ministers Brian Mulroney, Joe Clark and numerous others in the foreign policy field:
It was an excellent speech, very well delivered, one that rose to the sombre, but hopeful occasion. It faced the challenges the administration will confront but was the polar opposite of the American-carnage inaugural speech of his predecessor. Biden made clear that he is not just notTrump; he is anti-Trump. He set out a vision that Ronald Reagan or John Kennedy might have given, one that tempered great aspiration and responsibility with humanity and confidence in the American people.
The basic themes were of unity and inclusion, realism and hope. The challenges were clearly faced: the cascading crises of the pandemic, unemployment and economic recession, racial injustice and political extremism, a climate in crisis. The speech frankly acknowledged the divisions that plague governance in America, maintaining that “disagreement does not have to equal disunion …. Politics doesn't have to be a raging fire destroying everything in its path. Every disagreement doesn't have to be a cause for total war.” He said further that “we must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, and set aside politics and face them as one nation.”
All in all, a fitting speech on a fraught occasion addressed to Americans of all stripes.
Arthur Milnes, speechwriter to prime minister Stephen Harper, 2012-14:
Two immediate reactions.
The first is that Biden, unlike his predecessor, used American history as a unifying positive, not a divisive, negative one, invoking Lincoln, for example.
“In another January, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation,” Biden said. “When he put pen to paper, the president said, and I quote, `If my name ever goes down into history, it'll be for this act, and my whole soul is in it.' Today, on this January day, my whole soul is in this: bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation. And I ask every American to join me in this cause.”
Second, I was struck by the overt religiosity of the address, with a twist we have not heard when religion is invoked in U.S. politics in some time. He quoted a saint of his Catholic church, St. Augustine, but chose to use this in a unifying sense, reminding America and the world that a nation is defined, in St. Augustine's phrase, by “a multitude of rational beings united by the common objects of our love.”
The speech did not reach the rhetorical heights of JFK or FDR, but Biden never told anyone he was in their league. We had an inaugural address that belonged to the president himself, not a speechwriter. The sign of a truly impactful speech in so many ways.
Scott Reid, speechwriter to prime minister Paul Martin:
On Jan. 20, 1981, Ronald Reagan used his first inaugural address to declare, “Government is not the solution to our problems. Government is the problem.” That sentiment took hold of American politics in ways Reagan likely never imagined. His philosophy of limited government was gradually perverted into something darker and more reactionary — a violent belief that government and its institutions are to be distrusted and rejected. It led, perhaps inevitably, to the ugly, hateful failure of the Trump presidency.
Forty years to the day, Biden used his inaugural address to signal an opposing perspective. Arguing that America must “turn its back on exhausting outrage,” and “end this uncivil war,” Biden insisted, “enough of us have come together to carry the rest of us forward.” What more fundamental definition of government could there be than the image of citizens uniting to support and help one another — to do collectively what no one individual can hope to accomplish alone? “We are going to need each other,” he declared simply but powerfully.
Confronted with challenges that dwarf the malaise Reagan inherited, Biden's speech urged Americans to remember that the institutions of government were created to protect and uplift. It was a departure from not just the catastrophe of the past four years but from the trend of the past 40. Gone is the notion that government is the enemy. Restored is the notion that government can be — and must be — a force for good.
Robin Sears, speechwriter to NDP leader Ed Broadbent, Ontario premier Bob Rae, and who also worked on speeches with Willy Brandt, former chancellor of West Germany:
The horror that became the Trump presidency began four years ago on this occasion. The vulgar vitriol that he offered as an inaugural address was a dark foreshadowing of the four awful years that ended today. The American tradition of an inaugural speech that sets a vision, sets aside partisan snark however briefly, is the icon of the sacred “peaceful transfer of power.”
Biden firmly replanted that tradition, in rhetoric that would have made Ted Sorensen smile in recognition. It was an “ask not what your country can do” moment. Biden will never be a soaring orator, but like the similarly challenged Ronald Reagan, his gaps fade in the face of his authentic and compelling conviction.
His appeals for grace, respect and a commitment to join in building a bridge across the gaping divides in America might sound saccharine from a lesser leader. In Biden, they are a glimpse of the drivers of this survivor of some of the worst blows any person can endure. His writers gave him a speech locked into the angst of this American moment, and the typical confidence of that people to see a path to return to the light. Denouncing racism, police violence, political lies and the politics of division openly and by name, this speech was no Pollyanna moment. It was a classic political call to action, keenly tuned to its messenger and his moment. Home run.
Hugh Segal, speechwriter and assistant to Conservative leader Robert L. Stanfield, Ontario premier William Davis and numerous other leaders:
In empathy, sincerity and frankness, it was a caring and honest address. The enemies of America — the pandemic, extremism, systemic racism, poverty and anger — were named and targeted with positive effect. He was candid about how complex the challenges to be faced are. He evoked the power of America's example as opposed to the example of its power. It was an honest appeal to what needs to be done. The frankness and empathy served his inaugural purpose and America's well.
The young poet laureate's compelling verse and poetry that followed were a perfectly evocative embrace of the truth, challenge, sadness and broad horizon of hope the president and the nation he now serves must face.
The Leonard Brockington Society of Canadian Political Speechwriters was founded by Dr. Tom Axworthy and Arthur Milnes. It is named for Leonard Brockington (1888-1966), believed to be one of the first prime ministerial speechwriters, serving under Mackenzie King.