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

NPR
Barbershop: The Media And The White House
And joining us from Portland, Maine, is Mary Kate Cary. She's a senior fellow at the University of Virginia's Miller Center for Public Affairs. She's a former speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush. We thought her perspective as someone who worked with and through the media on the other side, if you will, would be helpful. Mary Kate, good to have you back as well.
Mary Kate Cary NPR "All Things Considered"
Bipodisan
Double play
On this week’s episode of Bipodisan, Paul, Jean, and Moe stay in the dugout at Chatter Bar and Grill and talk about the outrage machine’s reaction on both sides to the Trump-Kim handshake in Singapore, the argument for being hopeful on North Korea, and the scene from the baseball flick Bull Durham that best captures Donald Trump’s style (hint: it involves a bull). Meanwhile, Mary Kate heads to Nationals Stadium and steps up to the plate as a roving reporter, interviewing Members of Congress at the annual Congressional Baseball Game about how to have more civil conversations and build bipartisanship. Plus, why singing Capitol Hill cops, local political engagement, the World Cup, and a gracious moment from a high school pitcher are making us hopeful.
Mary Kate Cary Bipodisan
Bipodisan
The power of the purse
This week on Bipodisan, Moe is back, Paul is away and Mary Kate and Jean are crunchy. The gang of three finds bipartisan agreement on letting small-business owners bake cake, and on allowing the power of the marketplace – not the government – to send messages to merchants on culture or morality. Mary Kate then boldly leads the group to the “third rail” of politics: Social Security (and its insolvency). When it comes to entitlements, the hosts are worried – about the public purse and the leaders who control it. They wonder whether retiring Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz will run for president on a fiscally conservative platform of entitlement reform, and then discuss the pros and cons of non-traditional political candidates.
Mary Kate Cary Bipodisan
Bipodisan
Lead, follow, or get out of the way
After an opening icebreaker of remembering the first films they saw in a movie theater — you’ll learn which co-host was shouting out Latin translations of “The Exorcist” during its second run and which one rode his bike nine miles to see Star Wars — Paul, Mary Kate and Jean dive into the immigration debate after getting reports from high school and college campuses from the interns. Then Jean poses a great question: is corporate America leading or reflecting public opinion? Between this week’s news on the NFL, Starbucks, and ABC’s “Roseanne” the three co-hosts – minus Moe for another week – agree to disagree on whether Corporate America is reaffirming or reacting to pop culture. But not before opining on whether Lebron or M.J. is the best ever, whether conservative kids should go to liberal colleges, and which of them should open a tea shop, a bar, and a bait and tackle operation. You might be surprised.
Mary Kate Cary Bipodisan
Bipodisan
I hear 'donut'
Weighing in on the great Laurel v Yanny debate, Paul sides with Charles Barkley before he, Jean, and Mary Kate launch into a spirited discussion of the President’s Tweet-call to open a Justice Department investigation of the Justice Department investigation. The group then reflects on the life of former JFK, LBJ, and RFK speechwriting legend Dick Goodwin, other writers that inspired them to enter the profession (hint: one rhymes with “Meggy Roonan”), and the things they love and hate most about speechwriting. Plus, in a special Royal Wedding edition of What’s Making Us Hopeful This Week, the Podners discuss the cellist, the sermon, and the transatlantic symbolism but, in Moe’s absence, fail to talk about the dress.
Mary Kate Cary Bipodisan
Bipodisan
From Royals to Royalties
This week on Bipodisan, Paul is outnumbered both in gender and party affiliation by Mary Kate and Jean. The group pays homage to women by discussing the latest in the #MeToo movement, including justice for women and possible come-backs for the men whose careers have been cratered by recent exposure of their behavior. As their conversation evolves, intern Taylor chimes in with her 18-year-old perspective on the treatment of women in modern society. Parallels are drawn, perspective is sought and Mary Kate and Jean both share stories of their own professional experience as women in “The Swamp” of Washington, D.C. The group finds important common ground and wraps the show with lighter topics of royal weddings and the things that are giving them hope.
Mary Kate Cary Bipodisan