France's speechwriters in the limelight

"One assumed that de Gaulle and Mitterand at least wrote their own speeches, but when it comes to Nicolas Sarkozy everyone knows Henri Guaino is the man who pens his words - he's as well-known as a minister and omnipresent in public life. This year, no less than three "nègres", as the French call ghost writers, have published books about their voluntary slavery. ... Until recently ghost writers, like call girls, never revealed the names of those who used their services, but now the veils of secrecy are being lifted. ... Jack Lang and other ministers had their books written by ghost writers - which actually comes as a relief considering that the 'authors' have plenty of other matters to deal with. Nonetheless, these revelations come as a shock for the republic of intellectualism. Unlike the politicians, none of the ghost writers have turned out to be turncoats. ... In the underworld of politics you cannot work for both sides at the same time. But sometimes ghost writers end up in power anyway. Christine Albanel, who was always regarded as a nonentity, wrote Chirac's best speeches - and now she is Minister of Culture. And the poet Georges Pompidou did the same for Charles de Gaulle before he himself became president."

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