Ich bin ein speechwriter
September 18, 2012
From the safe distance of two decades, former Boston Herald reporter Harvey Dickson writes in a New York Times blog post about the time he gave some ethically dicey speechwriting advice to Joseph P. Kennedy II. Kennedy was traveling in Germany in 1992 and had invited Dickson along for an intimate look at the trip.
The second and last leg of the trip was to Berlin. Kennedy wanted to make a speech in Schöneberg, the district of Berlin, where his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, delivered his famous âIch bin ein Berlinerâ speech in 1963.
We were in another government van on the way to Schöneberg City Hall when Kennedy, sitting in the front seat, turned to his staff and said, âSo what am I going to say?â They all shrugged. This surprised me. I assumed they would have had something already prepared for what was supposed to be the culmination of the trip.
Kennedy turned to me, sitting in the rearmost seat, and asked, âHarvey, what should I say?â
This was an issue. A reporter isnât supposed to write a speech for the politician he is covering. I was pretty sure about that rule. Still, the temptation …
âWell,â I said, âwhen President Kennedy was here, it was to express solidarity with the citizens of West Berlin after the Communists built the Berlin Wall. Youâre here to express solidarity with the foreigners who are being attacked. You should use the German phrase that your uncle used, but change it for your purposes: âIch bin ein AuslĂ€nderâââI am a foreigner.
Kennedy gave his staff members a look as if to say, âWhy couldnât you guys come up with that?â
He fleshed out the rest of the speech on a notepad and 30 minutes later he was in front of Schöneberg City Hall, saying, âIch bin ein AuslĂ€nder âŠâ