Obama’s former speechwriter visits campus

On Monday night, the USC Program Board Speakers Committee hosted noted screenwriter and speechwriter Jon Lovett in The Art of Bull$#!t, a commentary on American politics in which he reflected on his years in the White House.

The event, which was held in Taper Hall at 8:00 p.m., was open to all USC students and faculty.

“We bring a multitude of speakers every year to discuss topics relating to education, diversity and cultural awareness,” Speakers Committee Director Amanda Schmitt said. “We’ve had people from Barack Obama to Stan Lee, and we were so excited to have Jon Lovett come speak about life in Washington D.C. and American culture.”

Dubbed “Washington’s Funniest Celebrity,” Lovett was Obama’s former speechwriter for three years and wrote jokes for the president’s annual White House Correspondents Dinner. Prior to that, he was the chief speechwriter for Hillary Clinton during her presidential campaign.

“Politicians are relying on comedy because it’s a way of breaking through to listeners when it’s so hard to get news to people,” Lovett said. “Humor is a way of saying we share the same view of what’s ridiculous or absurd. A laughing response is shorthand for, ‘I understand you.’”

Lovett emphasized the continued influence of the media in politics and how it has evolved.

“One of the things I learned when I first got into D.C. was how much the daily lives of senators was getting the press to cover what they want to talk about,” Lovett said. “For a long time, it was about finding a great pithy phrase for a sound byte. These days, what we share are honest, emotional, sincere expressions of either moments of surprise and moments of unexpected honesty, when the artifice of politics seems to break down.”

Lovett said Hillary Clinton’s widely publicized display of emotion in New Hampshire during her campaign humanized her to the American people.

“It was an honest, raw moment when people got to see a side of her they didn’t see before,” he said. “I think this shows we’re moving in the right direction because it demonstrates how the interests of politicians and ordinary citizens become more aligned.”

Still, Lovett recognizes that solving many of the country’s most pressing issues are hindered by dishonesty in the public and private sectors alike.

“We have serious problems, and we have serious things we need to do, but so much of our culture right now can’t be trusted,” Lovett said. “We’re drowning in partisan rhetoric that’s barely true. It’s dangerous and it affects every facet of our lives. Cynicism is a natural response to the kind of culture we live in.”

Lovett stressed the importance of the younger generation in changing the country’s mindset from cutthroat partisanship to valuing honesty.

“What gives me hope is ‘peopleship’ — a new generation is coming of age,” Lovett said. “The big test you guys are going to face when you leave here is the test of being the generation that fights for a renaissance of integrity, that fights for something true.”

After three years of writing speeches for Obama, Lovett decided to pursue screenwriting. He is a producer on the HBO award-winning series The Newsroom and is the co-creator and head writer of the 2010 NBC sitcom 1600 Penn.

“I left government because I wanted to write about things I cared about outside of the visible spectrum of politics, which is very small. There’s a lot you can’t talk about,” Lovett said. “I wanted to have an impact in a different way and talk about things in a different way.”

Lovett encourages recent graduates to consider jobs on the Hill.

“I think it’s great so many young people go into government,” Lovett said. “It’s a time in which you’re naturally optimistic and that’s a great energy in our government. In a way, we depend on every generation of young people to come into government and bring in a fresh perspective.”