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Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor
From a top speechwriter to President George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld, this may be the most deliciously candid memoir ever written about official Washington—a laugh-out-loud cri de coeur that shows what can happen to idealism in a town driven by self-interest.
Despite being raised by reliably liberal parents, Matt Latimer is, from an early age, lured by the upbeat them...more
Despite being raised by reliably liberal parents, Matt Latimer is, from an early age, lured by the upbeat them...more
Hardcover, 294 pages
Published
September 22nd 2009
by Crown
(first published 2009)
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This is a great look at the inner workings of the Bush Administration, presented by a loyal speechwriter within the administration. While this work is a fairly non-partisan book, it does come from a conservative author. While the author had obviously drank the kool-aid, it did not prevent him from presenting a critical and thoughtful examination of what happened during the Bush tenure. I believe the author’s background has a great deal of impact on his political slant, but it never interfered...more
I do not share the political views of latimer, and I am certain that affected my appreciation of this book. I did not enjoy the barbs aimed at people in my party. On the other hand, he did not write this book as an idealogue. He does think for himself, and I admire that. He expressed candor even with respect to republicans, to an extent. He admires only those who he views as true conservative republicans. Late in the book, he compares the passion that gripped many upon the rise to populari...more
Whereas Noonan had her What I Saw at the Revolution, Latimer has his what in the world am I doing here? Latimer served as a speechwriter in House and Senate offices before moving to the Department of Defense as Donald Rumsfeld's speechwriter and finally to his dream job: presidential speechwriter, during the final years of President Bush's 2nd term. His account is funny, engaging, and sometimes saddening. Latimer clearly respects Rumsfeld a lot, but found himself disillusioned by a White House t...more
Speech-less proves that the gods must have a perverse sense of humor. Matt Latimer, a true believer Reagan Republican with a burning ambitition to become a presidential speechwriter, achieved that life long goal -- and ended up writing speeches for George W. Bush during the horrible last year of his presidency. Latimer's disillusionment with Washington, Bush and the Republican party is palpable and infuses his highly readable and gossipy book. Latimer's view of politics is cynical, sarcastic and...more
Very interesting read. Latimer has great insight and humor into the frustrating world of government bureaucracy and office politics. He shares remarkable and memorable anecdotes about various Congressmen, Don Rumsfeld, Karl Rove, and President Bush. Latimer vigorously defends Rumsfeld, who comes off well in the book, but he also tends to gloss over or seem willfully ignorant as to why there was such outrage. Latimer then also complains at length about all the "cleaners" that came i...more
I don't read a lot about politics, but I really enjoyed this autobiographical account of a passionate young Republican who went to Washington, DC and became first an aide to a senator, then eventually a speechwriter for Donald Rumsfeld and then President Bush.
The picture he paints of behind-the-scenes government is both funny and frightening. Latimer seems to paint a fairly clear-eyed and even-handed portrait of the various officials and staff members he works with, not making himself...more
The picture he paints of behind-the-scenes government is both funny and frightening. Latimer seems to paint a fairly clear-eyed and even-handed portrait of the various officials and staff members he works with, not making himself...more
An interesting behind the scenes look at a life in politics. Although the author credits his decision to write a memoir to the inspirational memoirs of other political speechwriters that he read as a child and which prompted him to become a speechwriter, his is not that kind of story. It's more of a cautionary tale about politics and the gradual replacement of idealism with cynical disinterest.
There were a number of laugh out loud moments, though, and Latimer's writing is very good....more
There were a number of laugh out loud moments, though, and Latimer's writing is very good....more
Based soley on the first half of this book, it would have probably received 4 stars from me. However the last half of the book is the reason it only received 3 stars. i enjoyed this book. For many, it is an eye opening revelation to how our government works. While my mouth was agape at reading parts of it, i have studied politics for many years and was not surprised at much of it. The first half was a good story on the inner workings of congress and the pentagon. The second half, after he ...more
A humorous insightful look "inside" D.C. politics from the perspective of a political junkie whose goal is to work in the White House. Along the way he works for a local Michigan congressman and Senator Jon Kyl, before being hired as a speech writer for the the Department of Defense where he works for Donald Rumsfeld and then finally achieves his goal of working as a speech writer for George W. Bush. Although my political persuasions are at the opposite end of the spectrum, Latimer d...more
While I don't share some of the political views of the author, I thought this was an interesting book to read. He describes various jobs working on Capitol Hill, and as a speech writer for the Secretary of Defense. From the Pentagon, the author moved on to the White House where he worked as a speech writer. The author gave readers a good sense of what the jobs were really like, and I enjoyed reading about the personalities of the various government officials. The author's sense of dismay wit...more
I'm 20% through and starting to get the uncomfortable feeling that this book is entirely a self-indulgent self biography, as opposed to an expose on the inner workings of the White House and Washington by someone who might know. Thus far, the most damning insight about how congress works is that they use autopen machines. What's worse is the author is truly unlikeable. His attempts at sarcasm are boyish, his anecdotes punch-less, and his self-deprecation insincere. So far, there is no wisdom her...more
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This is an interesting memoir by a kid from Flint, Michigan who realized his dream of becoming a speechwriter for the president. Matt Latimer started his career in Washington with the forgettable but unforgivable Spence Abraham, moving his way up through the ranks to become Donald Rumsfeld's chief speechwriter, and then a member of the speechwriting staff of George W. Bush. THere is a lot of Washington gossip here as well as some interesting 'behind the scenes' takes on some of the biggest contr...more
Fabulous fly on the wall memoir by former top speechwriter for George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. I heard about the book, pre-ordered it from Amazon and finished it in three days. Mr. Latimer names names and charmingly describes his journey from youthful idealist to jaded political hack. As Random House describes it "a laugh-out-loud cri de coeur that shows what can happen to idealism in a town driven by self-interest."
I read this to get some insight on what just happened in the last eight years or so in Washington. I confess that I was barely paying attention the whole time.
Turns out that the Republican party is full of idiots. The author is a disenchanted conservative who talks shit on Bush, Cheney, Condi, but still holds people like Donald Rumsfeld and Ann Coulter in high regard. An interesting and revealing read for sure.
Turns out that the Republican party is full of idiots. The author is a disenchanted conservative who talks shit on Bush, Cheney, Condi, but still holds people like Donald Rumsfeld and Ann Coulter in high regard. An interesting and revealing read for sure.
Humorous at times, but the author is ultimately unlikeable - he's always smarter and more capable than everyone around him in his stories and comes off sounding like a discontented brat. I had one idea while reading this book for reducing the unwieldy bureacracy that is the federal government - get rid of at least half of the speechwriters in Washington - do we really need these guys?
I never thought I would enjoy reading a book about a speechwriter in the Bush whitehouse...but this is a good and interesting read. The writing flows well and grabs you from the start and the path the writer took to realize his dream of being a speechwriter for the whitehouse was a long and winding path that had him working for some weird people in government. A nice insider view of DC
Very funny and well-written book. I was leery of reading this at first since it's written by a Conservative and former Bush speechwriter (grrr....), but I enjoyed the author's humor AND his honesty about issues within his own Party. Unless you are fairly interested in politics and/or political communications, you probably won't find it terribly interesting.
I'm no conservative, and I picked up this book to confirm my prejudices about the Bush Administration. I found this book to be surprisingly riveting, well-written and astute. I would recommend it to anyone of whatever political stripe, as a behind-the-scenes look at how government works (probably all governments).
What a great book. If you're interested in politics and want to know what went down during the Bush years, this is the book for you. Written by a disillusioned young conservative who started off as a staffer on the Hill and became a speechwriter for Bush, this isn't a kiss-and-tell memoir. Latimer really liked Rumsfeld, hated McCain, couldn't quite figure Bush out, and despised Rove. He is an excellent writer and his account of his time in Congress is hilarious.
Despite the fact that the author's favorite politicians are the really heartless frightening conservatives, I enjoyed it and would recommend it. Especially since the author ended his political career by writing it so he needs all the help that he can get with his writing career.
The first 100 pages were very engaging and funny. Then it became more polemical, though I understand that if one is talking about the Iraq War, opportunities to be engaging and funny are limited. Still, I felt that I was reading a different book by pg. 150, so I stopped.
Rather funny look at one White House speechwriter's career during the Bush Administration. While I'm on the opposite side of the political spectrum from Latimer, I enjoyed his descriptions of life in the White House, and may actually think (slightly) better of Donald Rumsfeld after reading this book.
The publishers did an excellent job at promoting this book. I was expecting to read about how Bush mangled his speeches and did a poor job of improvising but this was basically a biograhy of the author. It was definitely a poor attempt at political satire but maybe that explains why there are no conservative Daily Shows or Colbert Reports. Republicans just aren't funny. This dude was to wholesome to curse.
This book made me happy because I was always secretly afraid that only the Democratic caucus acted like this. Enlightening but depressing. Worth the price if only for the description of W. preparing for the bank bailout speech.
Very enjoyable, quick read by a former Rumsfeld and Bush speechwriter. Author has a quick wit and discerning eye for BS, which he seems to be able to separate from his dewy-eyed appreciation for Reaganesque conservatism.
I have never read an "insider" book before, so it was verrrrry enlightening. I will have to read more like it. Well, maybe I'd better not as it is so darn depressing to see the state of our leadership!
I was first introduced to this book by Matthew Latimer's interview on NPR. I liked the fact that he was a Republican but was still able to give perspective of working for such high powered people. The book chronicles his work on the Hill, the Pentagon (for Rumsfeld), and then in the George W. Bush White House. I would've been just as interested if it was a Democrat giving a critical view of a Democratic presidency. I really appreciated Latimer's favorable view of Rumsfeld, and it helped put ...more
Not at all what I had anticipated. Instead of an insider's view of working at the White House, it was chance for the conservative author to take shots at "liberals" and democrats. I didn't think it was very interesting, nor well-written.
A fast and light read. A not terribly surprising behind-the-scenes look at the internal workings of our government from the prospective of a former speech writer.
good look inside the life of a speech writer. interesting look at the last years of the GW Bush administration. Wonderful writing!
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