While this is not a California-based political story, I thought fellow political junkies (especially those of us in PR/communications) would be interested in the story in today’s Chicago Tribune about the death of Earl Bush, press secretary to the first Mayor Richard J. Daley (father of Chicago’s current mayor).  I’m sure that Pres. Bush’s PR folks can relate to Earl Bush’s frustration with the press!

Earl Bush 1915-2006: Press secretary knew what mayor wanted to say

Putting words into the mouth of the malaprop-prone Richard J. Daley wasn’t an easy task.

So consider the plight of Earl Bush, the late mayor’s press secretary for 18 years. Bush, who died on Wednesday at age 90, once wrote a speech in which Daley was to proclaim, "We shall reach greater and greater plateaus of achievement."

Instead, Daley proudly stated, "We shall reach greater and greater platitudes of achievement."

Frustrated with the many times reporters correctly quoted the mayor when he misspoke, Bush uttered the line for which he’ll forever be remembered: "Don’t print what he said. Print what he meant."

In later years, he could laugh about his words. Bush had a political commentary radio show when Jane Byrne was mayor. The station ran an ad that showed Bush with a cigarette dangling out of his mouth behind copy that read, "You’ll hear what she says. He’ll tell you what she means."

You can read the rest of the story here.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 21st, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.