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Political Speech

Jules Feiffer’s United Nations Plaza Speech Jules Feiffer’s United Nations Plaza Spee...

Presidents on occasion have called upon entertainers for assistance with speeches. Orson Welles helped FDR during the 1944 campaign. Actor Robert Montgomery spent a number of years as an unpaid advisor to President Eisenhower to improve his television technique. Senator John F. Kennedy told jokes provided by Mort Sahl during the 1960 campaign. President Ford obtained jokes and coaching from Don Penny, a standup comic, writer, actor, and television ad producer. Al Franken wrote material for President Clinton and Vice President Gore before leaving the entertainment world to make a successful run for the Senate. Although Bob Hope sent jokes to President Johnson during the 1964 campaign, he and his writers contributed the most material to Hope’s golfing buddy, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew.

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