The official student newspaper of Walter Johnson High School

The Pitch

The official student newspaper of Walter Johnson High School

The Pitch

The official student newspaper of Walter Johnson High School

The Pitch

Q&A: Graduation Speaker and Former Press Secretary Mike McCurry

How were you approached about becoming graduation speaker?  
I got a letter on Jan. 6 from the senior class officers inviting me to be the commencement speaker. I think they checked with [my son] Will, [who is a senior at WJ], first to make sure he was cool with it- they didn’t want to spoil his graduation. But I got a free pass on the home front from Will and Marjorie (our other WJ student-she is in 10th grade). Chris is our third child and he will be a freshman at WJ next year. I think they all think it’s cool I’m speaking except they don’t want me to screw up.

What were the best and worst aspects of being press secretary?
The best part was traveling around the world and seeing interesting places and people. The worst part was being away from home so much and having to work incredibly hard every day to stay on top of all the developments at the White House and around the government. But I loved just about every minute.  Yeah, there were a few moments I’d probably like to forget.

Have you had to give advice to the press secretaries who came along after you and if so, what did you tell them?  
Yes, I’ve met and gotten to know most of those who followed, including Robert Gibbs who is Obama’s press secretary. My advice is always the same: keep your sense of humor and don’t take yourself too seriously.

When you were press secretary, the Internet played a much smaller role in journalism. Do you think the shift away from print media has affected the White House press corps and their interactions with the press secretary?  
Yes, I think the rise of the Internet and new media has altered the job of press secretary significantly. It makes the job much more of a 24/7 deal and it also makes it harder to keep a coherent conversation going, to keep a focus on things that matter most. It’s too easy to be distracted by temporarily interesting things, like a new White House puppy, for example.

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What was the most difficult situation you were ever put in as press secretary? What was the most interesting?
Most difficult was having to talk about the death of my friend Ron Brown, who was the Commerce Secretary, when he died in a plane crash. He had been my boss when I worked for the National Democratic Party. That was a very emotional day. The most interesting subjects to me were about foreign policy. I worked at the State Department before working at the White House and I really enjoyed international relations.

What advice would you give to high school students hoping to follow a similar career trajectory to yours?  
The most important thing is to write well. Hug every teacher that makes you re-write a paper. People at the White House, and elsewhere for that matter,  always give writing tests to job candidates. It’s amazing how many flunk, even when they have gone to good colleges. Learning to write well means you know how to organize your thoughts and arguments and that usually means you are good at a lot of other things, too.

What can you tell me about the various projects you are working on now?
I do consulting work in the telecommunications area aimed at keeping the Internet a really good, open, dynamic place for information, entertainment and  networking. I think that is best accomplished with careful federal oversight, not heavy-handed federal regulation. My other consulting work ranges from working with leaders like Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper to helping other corporations and non-profit groups like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. I work with them on the effort to eradicate diseases like malaria in Africa and elsewhere.

What were you planning to pursue professionally when you graduated from high school?
I was editor of our high school newspaper and I really wanted to go into journalism. But I also got interested in politics and during college, I figured out how to combine my interests in both careers. Being a press secretary in politics was the perfect job.

Do you look back on your time as press secretary with any regrets? Is there anything you would change?  
Yes, I would have been less of a “spin doctor” and would have been concentrated more on developing more interesting ways especially via the Internet  to pass along important information to the American public.

If you had to give only one piece of advice to a graduating high school senior, what would it be?
Get interested in many, many different things. Don’t confine your choice of academic interests to one narrow subject.

How do you feel about having a son in the graduating class?  Will it affect your message? 
I’m very proud of this class and all they’ve been through, especially with the construction and everything. The class of 2009 has great spirit, I think.

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