Experts

Mary Kate Cary

Practitioner Senior Fellow

Fast Facts

  • Former speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush
  • Provides political commentary for NPR, CNN, Fox News Channel, and CTV (Canada)
  • Executive producer of 41ON41, a documentary about President George H.W. Bush
  • Expertise on presidential communications, speechwriting

Areas Of Expertise

  • Domestic Affairs
  • Media and the Press
  • Governance
  • Elections
  • Leadership
  • Politics
  • The Presidency

Mary Kate Cary, practitioner senior fellow, served as a White House speechwriter for President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to early 1992, authoring more than 100 of his presidential addresses. She also has ghostwritten several books related to President Bush’s life and career and served as senior writer for communications for the 1988 Bush-Quayle presidential campaign.

Currently an adjunct professor in the University of Virginia’s Department of Politics, Cary teaches classes on political speechwriting; the greatest American political speeches; and the 2020 presidential election. In her first year in the politics department, she was recognized by the UVA Student Council for excellence in teaching.

Cary currently chairs the advisory board of the George and Barbara Bush Foundation, where she has been a member since 2004. The Bush Foundation oversees the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum and the Bush School of Government & Public Service, with campuses at Texas A&M University and in Washington, D.C.. In 2014, she was the creator and executive producer of 41ON41, a documentary about President George H. W. Bush, which premiered internationally on CNN. She is also a producer of President in Waiting, a documentary about the modern vice presidency that features interviews with all of the living vice presidents, which debuted on CNN in December 2020.

Following her tenure at the White House, Cary served as spokesman and deputy director of policy and communications for U.S. Attorney General William Barr and deputy director of communications at the Republican National Committee under Chairman Haley Barbour. She also served as a long-time columnist at US News & World Report, writing on politics and the presidency.

Cary is currently a member of the Ronald Reagan Institute's Women in Civics Advisory Council; UVA's Darden School of Business Leadership Communication Council; and the national advisory board of The Network of Enlightened Women, which supports conservative female leaders on more than 50 college campuses. She is a long-time member of the Judson Welliver Society of former presidential speechwriters.

Mary Kate Cary News Feed

Bipodisan
Midterm mania
Mary Kate and Steve Krupin, a former Obama speechwriter, tell fascinating behind-the-scenes stories from past election nights as former campaign staffers. The two writers forgo any sort of “quant” election analysis and instead review the President’s wild ride of a press conference the morning after the midterms; give their take on the biggest election results; and finally, share a few of the most inspiring — and most ridiculous — campaign ads of the midterms.
Mary Kate Cary Bipodisan
Times Free Press
Trump's Twitter use is innovative, pioneering presidential communication, political experts say
"The next president is going to have to be on Twitter, is going to have to be on social media," panelist Mary Kate Cary said. "I don't see how you put that genie back in the bottle."
Mary Kate Cary Chattanooga Times Free Press
Bipodisan
Burning Down the House
Mary Kate is joined by Steve Krupin, former speechwriter for President Obama, for a smart discussion about this week’s attempted bombings and the blazing-hot political rhetoric leading up to the midterms. After jumping from Cicero to Nixon to Trump, the two move on to interview Stephen Hawkins of More in Common, which just published a report on tribalism in America. Learn about the seven tribes in American politics and why the largest one — the Exhausted Majority — is afraid to speak freely. Hear Hawkins’ take on his favorite hidden gem in the report, before all three swap ideas for lowering the heat in politics these days — from tech companies to nonprofits to parents. Plus what’s making Steve and Mary Kate hopeful in an especially difficult week.
Mary Kate Cary Bipodisan
NPR
How Will The Kavanaugh Controversy Play Into Midterm Elections?
The midterm elections are just five weeks away, so now we want to consider how the drama surrounding the Kavanaugh nomination could influence those midterms. We called David Axelrod and Mary Kate Cary for that. Mary Kate Cary was a speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush. She's now a senior fellow at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia. David Axelrod was a campaign strategist and White House adviser to President Barack Obama. Now he's director of the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago.
Mary Kate Cary NPR All Things Considered
Bipodisan
No Partisan Witch Hunts!
Chris Lu (Mary Kate’s fellow Senior Fellow at the Miller Center and a big cheese in the Obama Administration) joins Bipodisan this week in a special Hurricane edition from Chatter Bar. The two analyze the President’s “A++” and “unsung success” tweets, his remarks on 9/11, and their four-legged tip for personalizing the First Family. Then the two interview Elise Bean and Justin Rood of the bipartisan Oversight Boot Camp on Capitol Hill, which trains staffers from both parties in both the House and Senate to run committee investigations to be something other than Partisan Witch Hunts between the two parties. Plus, the bromance between 44 and Senator Coburn, happy hours for staffers, and fake scandals.
Mary Kate Cary Bipodisan
Bipodisan
Speeches, Eulogies, Statements, and One Particular Op-Ed
Kyle O’Connor, former speechwriter for President Obama, joins Mary Kate this week to share stories about what it’s like to be young speechwriters at the White House, and which college experience — other than drinking heavily — best prepared them for the job. The two compare watching the McCain funeral on YouTube (Kyle) and in audience at the National Cathedral (Mary Kate), pick their favorite eulogies, and analyze the opening statements at the Kavanaugh hearings. Spoiler alert: like everyone else in Washington, they deny writing the anonymous New York Times Op-Ed. Unlike everyone else in Washington, they have some interesting takes on the whodunnit.
Mary Kate Cary Bipodisan