Uploaded June 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Bob Lehrman (68MFA) is a novelist and former White House speechwriter who wrote and edited hundreds of speeches for Vice President Al Gore.
The Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate discussed his time working with Gore, as well as writer Kurt Vonnegut, his advisor at Iowa. Lehrman wrote The Political Speechwriter’s Companion: A Guide for Writers and Speakers and co-authored a second edition of the highly acclaimed book.
He teaches political speechwriting at American University and has written more than a thousand speeches for national politicians, corporate and nonprofit CEOS, and celebrities. Lehrman has penned dozens of articles and op-eds under his own name in the New York Times, Washington Post, The Hill, USA Today, and Christian Science Monitor Sunday magazine, among other places.
Chat from the Old Cap is a series of virtual engagement sessions featuring Iowa alumni and friends sharing stories from their careers, backgrounds, and the university that unites us. See upcoming events for alumni and friends: foriowa.org/events
Bob Lehrman (68MFA) is a novelist and former White House speechwriter who wrote and edited hundreds of speeches for Vice President Al Gore.
The Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate discussed his time working with Gore, as well as writer Kurt Vonnegut, his advisor at Iowa. Lehrman wrote The Political Speechwriter’s Companion: A Guide for Writers and Speakers and co-authored a second edition of the highly acclaimed book.
He teaches political speechwriting at American University and has written more than a thousand speeches for national politicians, corporate and nonprofit CEOS, and celebrities. Lehrman has penned dozens of articles and op-eds under his own name in the New York Times, Washington Post, The Hill, USA Today, and Christian Science Monitor Sunday magazine, among other places.
Chat from the Old Cap is a series of virtual engagement sessions featuring Iowa alumni and friends sharing stories from their careers, backgrounds, and the university that unites us. See upcoming events for alumni and friends: foriowa.org/events
