Words uttered by the new President of the United States Joe Biden have made an impact on every listener’s ears. Words like trepidation, riotous, folks, nativism and more that were chosen for Biden by Vinay Reddy – who is the Director of The Office of Speechwriting that is a department of the White House, responsible for elaborate research and writing for the President.
The Indian-American writer, Reddy is a part of the new Biden administration who jotted the words defining Biden’s goals as a President, for America. Born and raised in Ohio, Reddy’s family hails from Pothireddypeta village in Karimnagar of Telangana, India. Reddy’s father Narayana Reddy migrated to the US in 1970 after completing his MBBS in Hyderabad. Vinay studied in the Miami University and pursued law from the Ohio State University College of Law. Vinay was Biden’s speechwriter during 2013-2017, when the latter was the Vice President of US in Obama administration.
Vinay’s bio on the website Build Back Better describes his expertise in writing for the prominent political figures. “Vinay Reddy serves as a speechwriter on the Biden-Harris Transition and served as Senior Advisor and Speechwriter for the Biden-Harris Campaign. He previously served as chief speechwriter to Vice President Biden in the second term of the Obama-Biden White House, after which, he worked as Vice President of Strategic Communications at the National Basketball Association,” his bio reads.
After April 30, 1789 when America got its first President George Washington, in 2021, Biden’s speech stands out to be unique. The words Biden uttered as he addressed the world from The Oval House have never been used by any previous Presidents. His speech was outstanding as it prioritised the ongoing issues that the US has been facing, specifically the pandemic and the riots. The inaugural address by Biden also included words like ‘America’ and ‘love’ repeatedly, so the message by the new Biden administration for Americans is loud and clear, that ‘it is time to heal’, as said by Biden.
After George Washington’s speech that till date remains to be the shortest address of 135 words, Biden’s speech stressed on the need to maintain focus on what’s first for a nation. Speechwriters have always been the spine of every President in America. The job of a speechwriter in White House is to understand the ideas shared by the President and structure a speech that conveys the flavour of the President’s understanding of a country, in all possible aspects.
One of Obama’s speechwriters, Sarada Peri said that the “for any speech, audience is its world stressing on the need to capture the President’s style and voice. Vinay Reddy who specialises in politics and philosophy, worked in collaboration with Biden’s adviser Mike Donilon and biographer Jon Meacham, to structure the speech.
