This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Reid Davenport.

Five members of Richard Nixon’s speechwriting staff discussed the pivotal speeches they crafted for the former president during an unpopular war, rampant protests and Nixon’s infamous resignation in Jack Morton Auditorium Monday.

School of Media and Public Affairs professor Lee Huebner, a former Nixon adviser himself, moderated the panel discussion with Ray Price, Pat Buchanan, Bill Gavin and Ken Khachigian as they discussed the speechwriting methods used behind Nixon’s presidency.

“He was always more comfortable without a text than with one,” Price, the chief speechwriter who wrote Nixon’s resignation speech, said. “My educated guess, from the time when I ran the shop, was that about one out of 20 speeches was written, about 19 of 20 were not and he never used notes. Different from most of what you see today.”

Price said the speechwriting staff’s chief task was to make sure Nixon said what he intended.

“Essentially his speeches were his speeches. They were not our speeches,” he said.

Price said Nixon had inherited the most disastrous decade in American history since the 1860s and the Civil War.

“[Speechwriting] is a technique of solving a particular problem,” Gavin said.  “It is not, in my view, an exercise in eloquence. I think we’ve been eloquenced to death.”

Gavin was a high school teacher when he wrote to Nixon, a lawyer at the time, encouraging him to run for president.  He continued his correspondence with Nixon, giving him one-liners that he used in his speeches, until he eventually worked his way up to a speechwriter.

Price also reflected on his role in Nixon’s resignation from office. As the staff waved good bye to the 37th president after he announced resignation, Price said he looked over to see future first lady Barbara Bush with her cheeks drenched in tears.

“I would rather not have had that final address necessary, but as long as it was, I was going to be the one helping on it,” Price said.