You might have seen a brief report in your local newspaper this morning about Michael Gerson’s departure from the White House.

Never a particularly well known figure outside the Beltway crowd, Gerson was nonetheless responsible for some of George W. Bush’s most memorable sayings — given his first-term role as chief speechwriter.

In his book Rebel In Chief, JLF friend Fred Barnes outlined a major role for Gerson in the development and articulation of Bush administration policies.

In that first meeting, Bush was blunt: he offered Gerson the [speech writing] job on the spot. At the time, he knew about Gerson’s strong religious faith, but not about his passionate feelings on spreading democracy. The speechwriter turned out to be completely in sync with Bush on both subjects. Indeed, many of Gerson’s own ideas have made their way into speeches on democracy and Bush’s faith-based initiative. 

…Gerson gave Bush what he needed most, a presidential voice. And he became a trusted adviser.