I'm reading a book about presidential speechwriters from FDR to George W. Bush, and for me it's fascinating to see how it evolved. It begins with FDR sitting with two other people working late into the night together on a speech whilst drinking cocktails. Right now I'm on Reagan, and there's a whole fucking committee of speechwriters who are begging the chief of staff to let them see the president and ask him what he wants to say and to learn his speech patterns. That I find to be an incredible difference. How the hell does it go from the president being one of three to the entire staff not being able to see him for months? If there's one group of people who should have access, you'd think it's those who are responsible for the communication between the president and the nation.