Glastris has seen politics from both sides of the fence. After spending his early career covering politics for some of the country's leading publications, he joined the Clinton administration as a speechwriter and special assistant to the President. He wrote over 200 speeches for President Clinton, on subjects ranging from education to health care to the budget, co-wrote the President's address to the Democratic convention in Los Angeles in August 2000, and contributed to his 1999 and 2000 State of the Union addresses. So when Glastris speaks to audiences about national politics he does so as one of the most compelling, informed, and intelligent voices on the subject. The audience is hearing from one of the most influential political journalists in the country -- when Washington insiders want to know what's really going on, they turn to Paul Glastris and The Washington Monthly.

The Byzantine world of Washington power politics often seems a mystery. That’s where an insider’s knowledge and expertise can come in handy. Paul Glastris takes you behind the scenes and beyond the headlines of Presidential politics. The former senior speech writer to President Bill Clinton, and current editor with the influential Washington Monthly, Glastris explores the daily developments in national politics and the implications for future events. His talks are timely, provocative, and relevant.

From 1998 to 2001 Paul Glastris was a Special Assistant to the President of the United States and a Senior Presidential Speech Writer. He wrote nearly two hundred speeches for President Bill Clinton, on subjects ranging from education to health care to the budget, and helped to develop key administration policy initiatives.

Why, in the so-called "information age", do so many Americans feel disengaged and disenfranchised from the political process? We've never had so many available outlets for news, yet we still feel ill-informed and confused about issues of national importance. Paul Glastris understands our frustration, and in his role as the Editor in Chief of the country's leading magazine of in-depth political analysis, The Washington Monthly, it's his job to make sense of the welter of events and find the truth that so many of his colleagues in the media seem to miss.

He brings this same level of commitment and insight to his keynote speeches. Paul refuses to simply regurgitate the same old tired clichés and time worn nostrums. Instead, he digs deeply into the problems that plague the American political process today, and offers real solutions. According to Glastris, the public is frustrated and angry with the mainstream media for good reason. The very way that the media is structured leads to less truth for the public, not more. The people that know least about the substance of the issues, the columnists, are permitted to be subjective, while the people who know most, the beat reporters, are expected to keep their opinions to themselves. The result is that the public is left in the dark on the issues that matter most.

Glastris brings a level of passion and credibility to his talks that few other political speakers can match. Surprisingly, he thinks that most politicians are hard-working, thoughtful, and committed to the public good. Unfortunately, political reporting is played out against a backdrop of "winners and losers", meaning that the public rarely gets exposed to the excruciating and lengthy process that many politicians go through to try and make the right decision on public policy issues. Spending some time with Paul Glastris will help any group become more informed about the political process, conscious of the problems it faces, and more optimistic about the possibilities for renewal and re-birth in American political life.