Michael Gerson, a speechwriter for former President George W. Bush and a Washington Post columnist who fiercely criticized President Donald Trump, died on November 17, 2022 in Washington, DC. Gerson was 58.
A man of deep faith, Gerson, a journalist and sometime writer for Charles Colson, joined the George W. Bush campaign in 1999 as a speechwriter who synched with Bush’s faith and voice. Many of his speeches for Bush also gave powerful voice to Americans’ fears, hopes, and beliefs, particularly after 911. Gerson became a close friend of the Bush family.
After the 9/11 attacks, Gerson’s speeches for the President (of course, written out of White House conversations on how to address the nation) became part of the American consciousness.
In a September 14, 2001 speech, Bush comforted Americans that “grief and tragedy and hatred are only for a time.” But “[g]oodness, remembrance, and love have no end. And the Lord of life holds all who die, and all who mourn.”
While comforting Americans, Gerson worked with Bush to also show the degree of toughness that was needed to meet the moment. Bush said, “[O]ur responsibility to history is already clear: to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil.” Gerson was unapologetic about his support for the war in Iraq.
Gerson was born in Belmar, N.J., on May 15, 1964. He was raised in the St. Louis area by evangelical Christian parents. His mother was an artist, and his father was a dairy engineer who developed ice cream flavors. He studied theology at Wheaton College, an evangelical school in suburban Chicago, where he graduated in 1986. He began his career ghostwriting for Charles Colson, the born-again Watergate figure and founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries.
He was a friend of A Journey through NYC religions.
