Robert Lehrman Biography

Former White House Chief Speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore (1993–95), Lehrman has written six books including several award-winning novels, and thousands of speeches for Democratic politicians, corporate and nonprofit CEOs, and celebrities. He is perhaps best known for his non-fiction book, The Political Speechwriter’s Companion: A Guide for Writers and Speakers, a systematic look at the techniques and strategies of modern political speech.

Lehrman frequently writes and speaks about politics and speech. He is a contributor to AOLNews, and has appeared in the Washington Post, New York Times, Politico, Christian Science Monitor and other periodicals.

A long-time Adjunct Professor at American University, Lehrman teaches public speaking and created AU’s course on political speechwriting which he co-teaches with Professor Eric Schnure. Along with American University Professor Leonard Steinhorn, he co-founded the commentary site, PunditWire.

In 2010, American University named Lehrman its Adjunct Professor of the Year, one of only 5 all-university awards given by the school.

Lehrman graduated from Tufts University, and received an MFA from the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop, where he studied with Richard Yates and Kurt Vonnegut. After Iowa he taught at Muscatine (IA) Community College. He then worked as a campaign organizer and later speechwriter for Governor Dan Walker (D-IL).

He also worked as a speechwriter for Governor Hugh Carey (D-NY), then for the CEO and other officers of Texaco before moving to Washington DC where he worked for Senator Lloyd Bentsen, and Majority Whips William H. Gray and David Bonior before moving to the White House where he wrote over 250 speeches for Gore and edited about the same number, before beginning his own business, Lehrman Communications, in 1996.

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