Jeff Shesol
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Supreme Power
Supreme Power
Mutual Contempt
Thatch
About Jeff
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Supreme Power
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Thatch
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The Supreme Court
The Case Against Packing the Court
Essay in The New Republic
Would Trump Consider a Court-Packing Scheme?
Essay for The New Yorker
The Supreme Court Takes Up a Major Gerrymandering Case
Essay for The New Yorker
Advise and Consent
Interview with Ken Rudin’s Political Junkie
Will Republicans Fight to Shrink the Supreme Court?
Essay for The New Yorker
Book Review: Opening the Door to a Conservative Court
Review for the New York Times
Mitch McConnell’s Sensible Supreme Court Strategy
Essay for The New Yorker
How to Recognize a Constitutional Crisis
Essay for The New Yorker
The Campaign and the Court
Essay for The New Yorker
The Supreme Court vs. Reality
Essay for The New Yorker
Will the Roberts Court Strike Down Another Campaign-Finance Law?
Essay for The New Yorker
Rightward Bound: Book Review Podcast
Podcast for the New York Times
Book Review: “Uncertain Justice” and “Scalia: A Court of One”
Review for the New York Times
Did History Win in Noel Canning?
Essay for The New Yorker
Scalia’s Word Games
Essay for The New Yorker
The Court’s Contempt for Congress
Essay for The New Yorker
Not “Court-packing,” GOP’s Aim Is “Court-shrinking”
Essay for Reuters
Barack Obama vs. John Roberts, Round 2
Interview on Politico
Book Review: “The Partisan: The Life of William Rehnquist” by John A. Jenkins
Review in the Washington Post
The Mystery and Mystique of John Roberts
Essay on Slate
Chief Justice Roberts’ Vote Saves Health Care Law
Interview on NPR's Morning Edition
John Roberts Is No Hero
Essay on Slate
Why Obama Shouldn’t Campaign Against the Supreme Court
Essay in Newsweek
Health Care Decision Hinges On a Crucial Clause
Interview on NPR's Morning Edition
Future of Health Care Law Hangs In Balance
Interview on NPR's All Things Considered
10 Things to Bear in Mind During the Health Care Arguments
Mention in The Atlantic
Supreme Court Lines up Potentially “Explosive” Election Year Docket
Appearance on PBS NewsHour
Should Justices Keep Their Opinions to Themselves?
Essay in the New York Times
Are Conservatives Endangering the High Court?
Mention in the Washington Post
Repealing Common Sense
Essay, with Dahlia Lithwick, on Slate
The Justices and Decorum Outside the Courtroom
Essay in the New York Times
Book Review: “Making Our Democracy Work” by Stephen Breyer: Evolving Circumstances, Enduring Values
Review in the the New York Times
Activism v. Restraint
Mention in The New Yorker
What Kagan Will Bring to the Court
Essay in the New York Times
For President Obama, Many Gaps to Fill on the Bench
Essay in the New York Times
Activist Judges, Class Is in Session
Essay on the Huffington Post
The Right Court Fight
Mention in the Washington Post
Nine Supreme Court Justices? Why Not Stick with Eight?
Mention in the Christian Science Monitor
Supreme Choices
Mention in the Jewish Daily Forward
In Conversation with Jeffrey Toobin
Appearance at the New York Historical Society
Obama v. Roberts: The Struggle to Come
Mention in the New York Times Week in Review
Live Q&A with Jeff Shesol
Interview with SCOTUSblog
FDR’s Losing Battle to Pack the Supreme Court
Interview on NPR's Fresh Air
The Next Supreme Court Justice: Time for a Politician?
Mention on Politics Daily
Supreme Court May Soon Lack Protestant Justices
Mention on NPR News
As With FDR, Supreme Court Could Be Obstacle to Obama’s Agenda
Appearance on NewsHour's The Rundown
Supreme Power
Interview on WAMC's The Roundtable
Ask the Author with Jeff Shesol
Interview on SCOTUSblog
Keeping the Supreme Court Impartial
Appearance on MSNBC's The Daily Rundown
Justices Will Prevail
Essay in the New York Times
Chief Justice Roberts Is a Big Crybaby
Mention in the Washington Post
White House, High Court Continue Quarrel Over SOTU
Appearance on PBS's NewsHour
Book Review: “The Supreme Court” by Jeffrey Rosen: Judging the Justices
Review in the Washington Post
The Presidency
Book Review: The Founders Look at Modern America
Review for the New York Times
Lyndon Johnson’s Unsung Role in Sending Americans to the Moon
Essay for The New Yorker
Who Will Be Believed: Trump or Woodward?
Interview with NBC News
Robert Kennedy’s Plea — and Unmet Call to End America’s Violence — After the Death of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Essay for The New Yorker
A Characteristically Dark Speech That Failed to Explain How America Can Succeed
Essay for The New Yorker
Book Review: The Best of the Kennedys?
Review for the New York Times
Book Review: The Presidential Election That America Lost
Review for the New York Times
Lyndon Johnson’s Unsung Role in Sending Americans to the Moon
Essay for The New Yorker
Book Review: The Founders Look at Modern America
Review for the New York Times
Who Will Be Believed: Trump or Woodward?
Interview with NBC News
A Year into the Trump Era, White House Staff Turnover Is “Off the Charts”
Essay for The New Yorker
Book Review: Why Another Arthur Schlesinger, Presidential Historian, Is Unlikely
Review for the Washington Post
John F. Kennedy: An Idealist Without Illusions
Essay for the New York Times
What Kind of Loyalty Does a President Need?
Essay for The New Yorker
Can President Trump Learn on the Job?
Essay for The New Yorker
When Presidents Think About Defying the Courts
Essay for The New Yorker
Will Trump Be Reaganesque in All the Wrong Ways?
Essay for The New Yorker
Six Books for Insight on a Trump Presidency
Essay for the Washington Post
Not So Bully Pulpit
Essay for the Miller Center
Obama’s Role on Clinton’s Team
Essay for The New Yorker
Oval Office Address, RIP?
Interview with Politico
What George H. W. Bush Got Wrong
Essay for The New Yorker
Book Review: “Reagan: The Life,” by H. W. Brands
Review for the New York Times
When Presidents Attack
Essay for The New Yorker
How the White House Decides Whose Death Is Worth Presidential Notice
Interview with the Washington Post
The Reagan Reflex
Essay for The New Yorker
Obama and the End of Greatness
Essay for The New Yorker
Keeping the White House Open
Essay for The New Yorker
Obama’s Coalition of the Willing and Unable
Essay for The New Yorker
The Nixon Memorial
Essay for The New Yorker
The Impeachment Vogue
Essay for The New Yorker
How Big a Job Is the Presidency?
Essay for The New Yorker
Who’s Afraid of an Active President?
Essay for The New Yorker
If Twitter Is Any Indicator, Doodles Are the Highlight of Clinton Docs
Mention in USA Today
Power Up: Obama’s Executive-Order Agenda
Essay for The New Yorker
The “P” Word: Why Presidents Stopped Talking About Poverty
Essay for The New Yorker
Can You Reset a Presidency?
Essay for The New Yorker
Backblogged: Our Five Favorite Sentences of the Week
Mention in The New Yorker
President Obama’s All-out Lobbying Push
Interview on Politico
Book Review: “Wilson” by A. Scott Berg
Review in the Washington Post
Obama on King, but in a Passive Voice
Essay for Reuters
West Wing Schooled on Scandal
Interview on Politico
Book Review: “Coolidge” by Amity Shlaes
Review in the Washington Post
Obama’s Second Term: What History Says to Expect
Interview in the Christian Science Monitor
Obama Silent On Fiscal Cliff During Negotiations
Interview on NPR's All Things Considered
President Obama’s Christmas Jobs Bonus
Mention on Politico
After Aurora Shootings, Obama Again Takes on Role as Healer in Chief in Colorado
Mention in the Washington Post
President Obama Faces Tough Choices on Healthcare
Interview with BBC News
Book Review: Jim Lehrer’s “Tension City: Inside the Presidential Debates, from Kennedy-Nixon to Obama-McCain”
Review in the Washington Post
Obama’s Many Acts Command Debt-Ceiling Stage
Interview on NPR's Morning Edition
Book Review: “Revival,” Richard Wolffe’s look inside Obama White House
Review in the Washington Post
End of Summer, and Summers
Mention in the New York Times
Joy Behar Was Right
Essay on the Daily Beast
Obama’s “Persistent Progressivism”
Mention in Newsweek
“Passionate Debate” Dictates Careful Treading
Appearance on NBC Nightly News
The Legacy Project
Essay in the New York Times
Book Review: “When Trumpets Call” by Patricia O’Toole: Not Speaking Softly
Review in the New York Times
Book Review: “That Man" by Robert H. Jackson and “Franklin Delano Roosevelt” by Roy Jenkins
Review in the New York Times
Book Review: “America’s First Dynasty” by Richard Brookhiser: Adams Family Values
Review in the New York Times
Book Review: “Breaking the Heart of the World” by John Milton Cooper Jr. and “Edith and Woodrow” by Phyllis Lee Levin
Review in the New York Times
Politics
How Newt Gingrich Made Nastiness a Virtue
Review for the Washington Post
Book Review: The Presidential Election That America Lost
Review for the New York Times
No, Coretta Scott King Didn’t Thank Jeff Sessions in Video Clip
Interview with Politifact
The Morning-after Chat
Interview with The Stitch
How Offending People and Lying on the Political Stage Became a Mark of Integrity
Essay for the Washington Post
Clinton White House Speechwriter Jeff Shesol Chats About the Politics of the Day
Interview with The Stitch
Obama Tells Police: “I’m Your Best Hope” for Relations with Communities of Color
Interview with the Washington Post
What Bernie Sanders Can Learn from Britain’s Bernie Sanders
Essay for Reuters
Rand Paul and the Problem of Political Experience
Essay for The New Yorker
Ted Cruz‘s “Bold Colors”
Essay for The New Yorker
Vietnam’s Quiet Anniversary
Essay for The New Yorker
Can Republicans Gain from Job Growth?
Essay for The New Yorker
Book Review: “The All New Don’t Think of an Elephant!”
Review in the Washington Post
U.S. Spinmeisters Gear Up For Big Election ... Britain’s Election
Interview with NPR’s All Things Considered
The Bill of the Century: The Epic Battle for the Civil Rights Act
Appearance at the NYU Brademas Center
Escape from the Senate
Essay for The New Yorker
No Left Turn: Democrats and the New Populism
Essay for The New Yorker
Do Conservatives Own “Opportunity”?
Essay for The New Yorker
The Republican War on Competence
Essay for The New Yorker
The G.O.P.’s Phantom Schism
Essay for The New Yorker
DC Feuds that Influenced Our History
Interview on Fox News
Is This the “Golden Age” of American Hysteria?
Interview on CBC Radio’s Q with Jian Ghomeshi
Shutdown: The Hysterical Style in American Politics
Essay for The New Yorker
Romney, Obama Have Parallel Points on the Economy
Interview on NPR's Morning Edition
Can Trump Close the Deal With Voters? This Isn't Reality TV
Essay in the New York Times
Populist Interest in the Constitution is Nothing New
Essay for the History News Network
Speechmaking
Robert Kennedy’s Plea — and Unmet Call to End America’s Violence — After the Death of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Essay for The New Yorker
Robert Kennedy’s Plea — and Unmet Call to End America’s Violence — After the Death of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Essay for The New Yorker
A Characteristically Dark Speech That Failed to Explain How America Can Succeed
Essay for The New Yorker
Trump’s State of the Union and the Consequences of Low Expectations
Essay for The New Yorker
All the Presidents’ Pens
Interview at the Professional Speechwriters Association’s 2017 World Conference
Trump Abandons the Bully Pulpit
Essay for The New Yorker
Trump’s Speech to Congress Was Not “Normal”
Essay for The New Yorker
A Dark Rhetorical Cloud over Washington
Essay for the New York Times
Five Myths About Political Speechwriting
Essay for the Washington Post
Why Trump’s Canned Speech Won't Help Him
Essay for The New Yorker
12 Nonverbal Ways to Improve Speeches and Interviews
Interview with Ragan’s PR Daily
The Strange Power of Donald Trump’s Speech Patterns
Interview with Yahoo Politics
Obama’s State of the Union Balancing Act
Essay for The New Yorker
How Much Gets Done From State of the Union Speeches?
Interview with NPR
Jeremy Corbyn Takes the Stage
Essay for The New Yorker
In Final State of the Union Address, Obama Aims to Set Tone for ’16 Campaign
Interview with the New York Times
Scripting the State of the Union
Interview with Sidewire
Jeremy Corbyn Takes the Stage
Essay for The New Yorker
Jeremy Corbyn’s Conference Speech: What Can the Experts Teach Him?
Essay for The New Yorker
White House Correspondents Dinner: Barack Obama Has One Mean Wit
Interview with CNN
Obama Readies Annual Stand-Up Routine for DC’s A-List
Interview with Jewish Political News & Updates
The Rise of 2016’s Newest Buzzword
Interview with Politico
Interview with the U.S. State of the Union Writers
Interview with the Beijing News
Obama Turns the Page
Essay for The New Yorker
Speechwriters, the Unsung Stars of U.S. State of the Union
Interview with The Nation
Mario Cuomo’s Finest Moment
Essay for The New Yorker
No Funny Business
Interview with the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation
The Message in Republican Victory Speeches
Essay for The New Yorker
Who Was America’s Most Well-spoken President?
Interview with Vocativ
How to Turn the President Into a Comedian in 5 Easy Steps
Interview with ABC News
The State of the State of the Union? A Mess
Essay for The New Yorker
Writing the State of the Union
Interview on ABC’s This Week
Talk Not: J.F.K. and the Case for Quiet
Essay for The New Yorker
The Many Metaphors Used to Describe the Government’s Failure
Interview on NPR’s Marketplace
Obama and Syria: Consistency, but Not Clarity
Essay for The New Yorker
Live From the West Wing: President Obama Goes Prime Time
Interview on Politico
Shaping a Speech, 50 Years After “I Have a Dream”
Interview in the New York Times
Why the State of the Union Is So Long — and Why No One Can Fix It
Interview in The Atlantic
Rubio’s Job: Play Second Fiddle to the President, and Don't Mess Up
Interview on NPR's All Things Considered
What Should Obama Say in His Second Inaugural? Acknowledge the Divisions
Essay in the New York Times
What Obama Can Learn From the Greatest Inaugural Addresses
Interview in U.S. News & World Report
Speechwriters: After Bland First Inaugural, Second Is Tougher for Obama
Interview on NPR's It's All Politics
The Five Best Inaugural Addresses
Interview in U.S. News & World Report
In Second Term Speech, Obama as Orator Faces Test
Interview on Yahoo News
President Obama on Stump: Prose Over Poetry
Mention on Politico
Minus Greek Columns, Obama Eyes Future with Convention Speech
Mention by Reuters
What Makes a Good Convention Speech?
Interview on Time.com
The Guy Who Makes Politicians Funny
Mention on CNN.com
From Sound Bites to Social: How Media Influences Speeches
Interview on The Green Room
Purpose-Driven Prose
Essay in the Wall Street Journal
A Guy Walks into an Oval Office
Mention on Slate
Obama Preps Jokes for WHCD
Mention on Politico
Prep and Circumstance
Mention on Politico
The Single, Brilliant Idea
Mention in the New Statesman
Delivering a Successful State of the Union
Appearance on MSNBC's The Daily Rundown
A New, Improved State of the Union?
Essay in the New York Times
What Obama Should Say
Mention on the Daily Beast
Let’s Put This Speech to Bed
Essay in the New York Times
Strips & Sundry
Amity Shlaes’s Anti-New Deal Graphic Novel
Essay for The New Yorker
Book Review: “The Great War” by Joe Sacco
Review for The New York Times
Book Review: “The Comics,” an Illustrated History of the Funny Papers
Review for The New York Times
The Art of Storytelling
Appearance on NY Brand Lab Radio
Home
Writing
Supreme Power
Mutual Contempt
Thatch
About Jeff
Contact
Home
Writing
Supreme Power
Mutual Contempt
Thatch
About Jeff
Contact
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