White House Writers Group

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This article is part of the Tobacco portal on Sourcewatch funded from 2006 - 2009 by the American Legacy Foundation.

The White House Writers Group (WHWG) was founded in 1993 by "five former White House speechwriters", many colleagues from the George H.W. Bush Administration. [1][2]

Media Transparency calls WHWG "an umbrella firm of former ghostwriters for Republican presidents and bureaucrats now at the service of anyone willing to pay."[3]


The Group

The Group describes itself as a "strategic communications consulting company" that helps to develop "communications strategy" and "manage messages" and says that it is not just in the business of writing, but rather that it is in the "business of winning."

Firm members include:[4]

  • Mark K. Davis, former White House speechwriter, who "worked for President Bush in drafting a prime-time Joint Session of Congress address declaring America's determination to lead a world coalition against Saddam Hussein. He also worked for President Bush on the 'Europe Whole and Free' address at Mainz, then-West Germany, on liberating Eastern Europe from communism. ... At the Republican National Committee, Mr. Davis prepared speeches for the RNC Chairman and Cabinet members. In that capacity, he wrote several political speeches" for Ronald Reagan. [1]
  • Eileen Doherty, former White House aide to President Reagan. [2]
  • Peggy Dooley, Director; former "chief speechwriter and Deputy Communications Director for Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson from 1991 to 1995, ... [former] researcher in the White House speechwriting office of President Bush, where she worked on the President's first State of the Union address, the President's address to a Joint Session of Congress following the Gulf War." [3]
  • Thomas F. Gibson, Senior Director; "Director of White House Public Affairs for President Ronald Reagan, and corporate executive at MCI." [4]
  • Clark S. Judge, managing director and former speech writer for Ronald Reagan.
  • Dan McGroarty, "served as Special Assistant to President George H.W. Bush and Deputy Director of White House Speechwriting. [5]
  • Peter Robinson, "Chief Speechwriter on the White House staff of Vice President Bush. A year-and-a-half later he became a speechwriter to President Reagan. Mr. Robinson served President Reagan for nearly five years, rising to become a Special Assistant to the President"; "helped to found the firm eight years ago, joining several other speechwriters from the Reagan and Bush administrations." [6][7]
  • Joshua Gilder, former senior speechwriter for President Reagan[5]

Past firm members include Robert H. Bork, Jr. and Adam D'Luzansky.

Services

The White House Writers Group boasts on its website about its tactics to influence policymakers. The WHWG website states, "WHWG works with prestigious groups to host dinners where clients can have candid conversations in intimate settings with the nation’s leading policymakers, opinion makers and other influentials."[6]

The WHWG also advertises that it helps big financial companies "navigate compensation controversies,"[7] and lines up "pundits and commentators" to aid clients.[8]

Clients

  • Carlyle Group: May 19, 2003, The Carlyle Group launched its new website www.carlylegroup.com; WHWG was responsible for the website's "content development work". [8]
  • Force Protection, Inc., A Leading Supplier of Mine and Ballistic Protected Vehicles: April 19, 2004, "Stearns Johnson, in partnership with The White House Writers Group, a Washington, D.C.-based public affairs firm, will handle a complete range of communications assignments for the company." [9]
  • Hoover Institution: "Public Affairs generates the daily Hoover News Report, an in-house on-line summary of the publications by Hoover fellows with direct links to the articles. In addition, lists of experts willing to discuss and provide background to breaking news stories are distributed regularly to news media outlets around the world. Public Affairs also writes and publishes the Hoover Newsletter, on-line and in print, and distributes press releases to more than twenty thousand news outlets daily. ... With the assistance of the White House Writers Group in Washington, D.C., Public Affairs coordinates Hoover's op-ed program, which is considered among the best in its peer group. More than one thousand opinion pieces by Hoover scholars are placed in newspapers ever year. Public Affairs and the White House Writers Group work closely with the members of editorial boards throughout the country to accomplish this remarkable record." [10].
  • Philip Morris
  • R.J. Reynolds[9]

Contact details

1030 15th Street, 11th Floor, NW
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202)783-4600
Fax: (202)783-4601
Email: Info@whwg.com
URL: http://www.whwg.com/

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Articles & Commentary

  • Harris Collingwood, "White House scribes for hire. Chief executive officers can take advantage of services of White House Writers Group, comprised of five speechwriters," Business Week, January 11, 1993, No. 3300, p 40.
  • James Barnes, "Bush team eyes earmarks, may push biennial budget plan," National Journal, February 13, 2001: "Former Reagan speechwriter Clark Judge, now managing director of the White House Writers Group, a Washington strategic communications consulting firm, has helped organize and write the first draft, which will be fine-tuned by the new Office of Management and Budget/OMB team."
  • Daniel McCarthy, "Bait and Switch," LewRockwell.com, March 15, 2001: Michael Long's "byline identifies him as 'director of the White House Writers Group.' It’s a pretty good example of the movement of political values into private life that I briefly alluded to in my last article. And for that matter what George Orwell called 'Newspeak.' Taking political spin from the White House to Wall Street to main street. And into your head." [emphasis added].
  • Daniel McGroaty and Marvin J. Horowitz, "U.S. National Energy Policy: Is the Gulf Widening?" (McGroarty, White House Writers Group; Horowitz, Demand Research), IAEE International Conference, Prague, Czech Republic, June 5, 2003 [A new Energy Policy Act in 2008].
  • "Public Radio's Marketplace Airs Flawed Commentary," MoveOn.org, January 14, 2004: "Marketplace didn't mention that Clark Judge is a former speechwriter and special assistant to President Reagan and Vice President Bush, only describing him as 'managing director of the White House Writers Group.' The consulting firm is run by Judge and Peter Robinson, another former Reagan speechwriter and author of How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life."
  • Jerry M. Landay, "Bush's Back-door Political Machine," BallotPaper.org, April 5, 2004. Adapted from Media Transparency article.
  • Nancy, "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing," News Hounds Blog, September 19, 2004.

References

  1. ↑ Friedman Foundation, Dan McGroarty, organizational profile
  2. ↑ White House Writers Group, History, organizational site
  3. ↑ Jerry Landay, The Apparat, Media Transparency, March 18, 2004, accessed January 18, 2012
  4. ↑ White House Writers Group, Principals, organizational site, accessed January 18, 2012
  5. ↑ White House Writers Group, Joshua Gilder, organization profile, accessed January 18, 2012
  6. ↑ White House Writers Group Policy Dinners, organizational website, accessed January 18, 2012
  7. ↑ White House Writers Group Practices/Finance, organizational webpage, accessed January 18, 2012
  8. ↑ White House Writers Group Public Affairs, organizational website, accessed January 18, 2012
  9. ↑ Judge CS, White House Writers Group Edited versions of first round speeches Memornadum. June 2, 1993. Philip Morris Bates No. 2022840536/0537
  10. ↑ The Harry Walker Agency (Speaker agency) John Podhoretz, speaker bureau/agency website, accessed January 18, 2012

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