Word: khachigian
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...legislative proposals. The conservatives, led by Speechwriter Anthony Dolan, contributed an unsolicited draft that took a sharply aggressive line: it would have committed the President to push for a constitutional convention to draft a balanced-budget amendment. Reagan rejected both and chose a third draft written by Ken Khachigian, a former White House speechwriter who was called back from California for this effort. Though Khachigian's lyrical prose is well suited to Reagan's natural speech rhythms, the final talk was too familiar and vague to change any minds, in Congress or, apparently, around the country...
...interim conclusion is that while the world around him has changed, Ronald Reagan remains the same. Over Christmas he wore a necktie that played Jingle Bells when he pressed a tiny switch. He's brought in one of his old word wizards, Ken Khachigian, to help sculpt his State of the Union address, which Reagan is counting on to be boffo theater and rekindle the lost love. When his crew of surgeons watched him sip hot water before a radio address, he reassured them, "Both a minister and Frank Sinatra said they used hot water to help their voices...
...would on an ordinary Sunday evening. The atmosphere was to be friendly and intimate as the President and Nancy Reagan welcomed a projected 80 million television viewers into their home. Producer Roger Ailes, a trusted old pro, worked to make sure the camera angles were just right. Ken Khachigian, a former Reagan campaign speechwriter known for his rhetorical flair, collaborated on the address. The details had to be perfect, for the President and his wife were going to speak to America on a subject that has emerged as the nation's hottest topic: the fight against drug abuse...
...speech in your pajamas." Reagan let the laughter subside, then read Peter's postscript: "If you have to make a speech in your pajamas, I warned you." More laughter. The letter, part of a class project, had been picked out of mountains of mail by Chief Speechwriter Ken Khachigian, but no one on Reagan's staff knew that the President had decided to read it on television...
Though he may not have been hurdling any tables, Reagan was gradually easing himself back into his job. He placed two dozen or so calls during the week to Congressmen and others to lobby for their support of his economic program. Assisted by Speechwriter Ken Khachigian, he began drafting the address he will deliver this week to a joint session of Congress. He read briefing papers daily and even found time to dip into a book chronicling the physical ailments of previous White House occupants. He also met with eight Governors-seven Republicans and one Democrat, Forrest James of Alabama...