When President Bill Clinton visited Northern Ireland in November 1995, Vinca LaFleur helped him find the words to inspire new hope for peace. The Financial Times entitled its commentary on the president’s speeches “Ciceronian Clinton”; the Times of London called his Belfast Mackie plant address “one of the finest” of his presidency; and the Guardian newspaper advised the British prime minister to “hire that man’s speechwriter.”
Working at the White House combined two of Vinca’s passions: writing and international relations. During her three years as a foreign policy speechwriter and special assistant for national security affairs, she accompanied President Clinton to Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. Previously, she wrote speeches for Secretary of State Warren Christopher, and before that served as a human rights analyst for the U.S. Helsinki Commission.
Since leaving the White House, Vinca has written and edited speeches, articles, books, and reports for corporate executives, former senior government officials, royalty, prominent think tanks, and public figures. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, she also has published under her own name on issues from poverty to communications, and served as a visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Additionally, Vinca is a sought-after educator on the art and craft of speechwriting, and has conducted workshops for business, government, and university audiences in the United States and abroad.
Vinca graduated summa cum laude from Yale and holds a master’s from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. She and her husband, scientist David LaFleur, live in Washington with their two children.
Stories of incredulity, anger, and dismay are rolling in from around the country as Chrysler dealers open up the UPS envelope that tells them whether or not they’ll still be part of the dealer family. Without getting into the rightness or wrongness of the need to shrink the number of dealerships, I’ve been struck by […]
One of the most powerful communication moments during the presidential campaign was when then-candidate Barack Obama, in his extraordinary speech on race relations, told the story of Ashley Baia, a young volunteer who had gotten involved in the Obama campaign because of her experience as a little girl, when she ate mustard and relish sandwiches […]
I’ve posted on Maira Kalman before because I think she’s so clever and creative, and because I love the way she uses her art to illuminate her ideas. Check out her latest piece for the New York Times — a tribute to justice, brave women, spring in Washington, and self-confidence.
Just a quick note to acknowledge another communications innovation from the White House — and this one long overdue, IMHO: Dan Restrepo, senior advisor on Latin America, addressing the press corps in Spanish as he explained last week’s changes in policy toward Cuba. Check out the video here. Earlier this year, my former colleague Jamie […]
Interesting commentary from Virginia Heffernan in the April 12 New York Times Magazine on the paradox of YouTubery in our nation’s political arena. On the one hand, video has been a gift to folks like yours truly who believe in the power of a great speech — extending the life of a speech well beyond […]
I really appreciated Ed’s post a few days back about the double standard women leaders face on the wardrobe issue. It’s true that Michelle Obama’s clothes garnered a disproportionate amount of attention during this recent Europe trip. And let’s be honest: she looked fantastic. Her clothes were gorgeous, and so is she. It makes me […]
As I noted in an earlier post, I’m a fan of Secretary Clinton. This intel from a recent post on Foreign Policy’s “The Cable” blog helps explain why: Clinton is drawing praise from some State Department officials for making a real effort to show her appreciation for staff. The secretary is doing thank-yous to the […]
A few PodPund-ish items to report from across the Atlantic. First, a new reality TV show on BBC2, called “The Speaker”: With Barack Obama having revived interest in the ancient art of oratory, it’s now time to take a group of awkward kids and teach them to speechify like the greats. But the idea of […]
Mark offers the contours of a fascinating chapter in presidential speechwriting history. But where Mark was diplomatic and restrained, I’m going for the big reveal, and assuming that the story to which he alludes is Peter Robinson’s experience writing President Reagan’s celebrated remarks in Berlin — “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” Here’s Peter’s article […]
A $787 billion stimulus bill. Hundreds of billions — even trillions — on the war in Iraq. Trillions of dollars of lost shareholder value. Trillions of dollars more in toxic assets. Big numbers are simultaneously scary and antiseptic — too abstract to comprehend. Thanks to fellow blogger and friend Ian Griffin for alerting me to […]
Nice piece from former Bush 43 speechwriter turned Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson on “What the Teleprompter Teaches“: …it is a mistake to argue that the uncrafted is somehow more authentic. Those writers and commentators who prefer the unscripted, who use “rhetoric” as an epithet, who see the teleprompter as a linguistic push-up bra, do […]
Reviews are in from this weekend’s Gridiron Dinner, and despite some grumbling (too long, too predictable, the president shoulda been there), it sounds like there were plenty of laughs served up — especially from Vice President Joe Biden, who began: “Axelrod really wanted me to do this on teleprompter — but I told him I’m […]
Further on the perils of executive teleprompting — the Irish Prime Minister was embarrassed yesterday as he launched into his remarks at the White House St. Patrick’s Day reception, only to discover, to his mortification, that he was reading the President’s speech. President Obama tried to help him recover, saying as he stepped to the […]
West Wing Writers had the pleasure of meeting with a visiting delegation of Swedish and Danish progressives earlier this week, and talking about political communications in anticipation of upcoming electoral campaigns in Scandinavia. Among the topics we debated was whether things were “different” for female candidates — looking back at the Clinton-Obama primary contest and […]
Yesterday was a big day for women’s issues in Washington. President Obama announced the formation of an interagency advisory council on women and girls, headed up by Valerie Jarrett to help coordinate policy across government; the official release states that “The mission of the Council will be to provide a coordinated federal response to the […]
