Jeff Shesol

News Archive

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
© Copyright 2024 Jeff Shesol. All Rights Reserved.