See the full transcript of the interview here.
Over the past 30 years, Mary Kate Cary has made sure to always keep a busy schedule. Whether as a former presidential speechwriter, a much-requested commentator on CNN and Fox News, a film producer, or a politics professor, she has dabbled—and succeeded—in many different fields. Her humble beginnings can be traced back here, to the University of Virginia, where she majored in Foreign Affairs. “Back then, I was involved with the previous alternative to the Cavalier Daily, the University Journal,” Professor Cary recounts at the beginning of our interview. The Journal operated completely independent of the university administration to be “the conservative voice on Grounds,” and was a great success. That early experience in journalism, Cary says, served as a foundation for her later career, where she would be fortunate enough to combine her passion for writing with her interest in politics.
Following her graduation in 1985, Professor Cary worked various jobs in Washington D.C., including at one of the first political news services, long before outlets such as Axios or Politico existed. Covering the then-upcoming presidential election of 1988 proved both fascinating and exhausting. “I covered the overnight shift from midnight to noon. By the end of the primaries… I couldn’t work that shift anymore. I needed a day job,” says Cary. Through a friend, she was able to join one of the campaigns, becoming a senior communications writer for then-candidate George H.W. Bush. Her job included writing soundbites, factoids, and anecdotes used for television, and ghostwriting magazine articles. Though she was excited about the new job, she presumed it would only be temporary: At that point, “George Bush was losing in the campaign by seventeen points. But I thought everybody needs to be on a losing campaign once— it’s good for your character.” Of course, Bush ended up winning, and Cary soon followed him to the White House, where she would remain for the entire term.
At just 24 years old, Mary Kate Cary became the youngest and only female member of President Bush’s speechwriting team. “Most of my colleagues were older gentlemen who came from various Senators’ or Governors’ offices,” she remembers. “All of them were very experienced speechwriters. I had to learn to swim quickly.” But her past experience with writing, dating back to her time at UVA, had prepared her for the challenge. To this day, Professor Cary remembers her time as a speechwriter fondly: “It’s a great way to make a living because you meet all kinds of people and learn about many different subjects. Every speech is a new challenge. It always keeps you curious. It’s a career I would highly recommend to undergrads.”
Equally fond are her memories of George Bush, both as a president and a person. Bush’s term fell into one of the most tumultuous periods in world history— the fall of the Soviet Union, and the Gulf War. The secret to the President’s success as a leader, Cary is certain, was his humility: “He could pass a remarkable list of legislation domestically— even though the House and the Senate were controlled by the Democrats… he had a great way of reaching across the aisle.” President Bush’s level of understanding for the other side and his consensus-building ability would later influence Professor Cary’s approach to education. “You don’t say it’s my way or the highway. But you see that the other side has something valuable to offer and that you’ve got to give and take.”
One area where President Bush’s humility proved especially fruitful was his handling of the end of the Cold War: “He was very thoughtful in how he reacted to things, not to provoke the hardliners in the Soviet Union to crack down. It could have been a very bloody end to the Cold War. But I think President Bush’s humility and discretion not to shout from the rooftops that we have won was why we saw the end of an empire without a single shot being fired.” That the Soviets eventually became allies of the United States in the first Persian Gulf War is, for her, just one of many pivotal achievements of Bush’s presidency.
But it was not only on the political level that Cary learned from Mr. Bush. She remembers the President as a kind and humble man who treated everyone around him with an equal amount of respect, whether it was the head of the Soviet Union or the butler at the White House. “He would circle the word ‘I’ when we used it too often in a speech,” Cary remembers. “He believed that in a democracy, a president should always speak of a ‘we.’ His mother taught him that as a child. ‘You shouldn’t use the word ‘I’ too much because of the great ‘I Am’ in the Bible. Don’t be the great ‘I Am,’ George.’”
Decades later, the lessons learned from her time at the Bush White House still influence Cary. In her lectures, she tries to convey H.W.’s sense of humility. When talking about politics, she says, it is most important to be understanding of different opinions. Open dialogue, she affirms, is the best way to strengthen our democracy.
Since her start as an adjunct professor at UVA in 2019, Cary has taught classes on a wide range of topics. Her course on political speechwriting, and another titled ‘Democracy Out Loud,’ rank among her students’ favorites. But it is a class on a more challenging topic that Cary considers her greatest achievement: When the pandemic shifted courses online, she says, “I didn’t think I was going to teach that fall, when UVA approached me asking if I wanted to teach a class on the upcoming 2020 election.” She would not be alone when teaching this class. In a move rarely seen in American universities, UVA had the class be co-taught. Lecturing side-by-side with Cary was Jennifer Lawless— an odd pairing considering Lawless once ran for the House of Representatives as a Democrat.
Despite their ideological differences, Cary confirms, she and her colleague got along great in class and even became close friends. Professor Cary is particularly proud that she could expose her students to new ideas some of them might have never heard before. “Professor Lawless has taught this course every four years since the year 2000,” she explains, “but until 2020, she has taught it by herself. So, she had these lectures that she’s been giving forever with no alternate side.” Even when controversial topics arose, Cary could defend her position in a respectful environment: “One of her lectures early in the semester was about the electoral college. She argued that we should get rid of it. But I disagreed and asked to rebut. Jenn agreed, and I explained my point of view. From there, it became a thing throughout the semester. We called it ‘She Said/She Said.’ We had a graphic that would pop up every time I wanted to rebut.” Especially in an election as heated as the 2020 race, Cary took pride in preserving intellectual diversity in the classroom. Having arguments based on reason instead of tribalism, she says, was a great experience. “Showing the students that reasonable people can have different opinions really worked… I think co-teaching is the future, especially in politics classes,” she contends, hoping that soon more classes will be co-taught at UVA.
Being the only class about the 2020 election taught by a Democrat and a Republican in the entire United States, Cary’s and Lawless’ unusual approach soon caught national attention. The two of them shared their experiences in an opinion column for USA Today. Both in the op-ed and her interview with The Jefferson Independent, Cary expresses her pleasant surprise at how well the students responded to the class’s bipartisan approach. “At the end of the semester, we did some interesting polling,” she recalls. Even though 80% of the 223 students in the class identified themselves as Democrats, each side was able to get a better understanding of the other. In the final survey, 56% of the students said the class made them less partisan. Even more telling, she observes, is the fact that “87% said they wanted more classes taught by a liberal and a conservative in the future. That’s almost nine out of ten.”
One issue Professor Cary finds especially important to build on is youth involvement in politics. When asked whether there is a bias against conservative ideas in academia, Cary is sympathetic to the laments of many right-leaning students. However, the problem, she says, also stems from the students themselves. “In classroom conversations, there is a lot of self-censoring— not just because the students fear that their teacher will give them a bad grade if they don’t toe the line, but there is also a social side to this where people fear they will not get a date anymore or nobody wants to sit at the lunch table with them.” Despite the social pressure, she encourages conservative students, and all students, to stand firmly for what they believe in: “The antidote to this, I would say, is more reasonable conversations. You don’t have to change people’s minds. But it is always a good thing to ask questions. Ask people if they can defend the statement they just made. What’s their evidence?” As she has learned from her co-teaching experience, when people with different viewpoints actually get together and talk about their differences on a mutually respectful and open-minded level, these conversations do not have to be as contentious as people think.
Though the University is far from perfect in regards to political tolerance at the moment, Cary is still proud of her alma mater. Since 2017, she has served as a Senior Fellow at The Miller Center for Public Affairs. She is also planning a new center at UVA that will be called Think Again: “The idea behind this is to have events where people listen to opposing arguments and get to reconsider their position,” Cary explains excitedly. Furthermore, she champions free speech as a member of the Committee on Free Expression and Inquiry. Along with her speechwriting and ‘Democracy Out Loud’ classes, Professor Cary will team up with Professor Lawless again for a course called ‘50 Things You Need to Know About American Politics’ in 2023. In the year following, the two of them will again be covering the presidential election as a bipartisan duo – a model, Cary hopes, by then will have become more prominent in college classrooms across the United States.
With a full schedule like that, it is a wonder that Mary Kate Cary has any free time. When she is not busy working, one can most likely find her at JPJ: “When I was an undergrad… I didn’t go to any of the men’s basketball games. Now, as an adult, I am a season pass holder. It’s so much fun; I think they are the best team… Go Hoos!”
Her favorite thing about UVA though, besides the basketball team, is the university’s emphasis on students’ self-government. “Thomas Jefferson had the idea that an educated citizenry would be the way forward for our democracy,” Cary explains, referring to the University’s revered founder. “Having students in charge of so many institutions on Grounds—including the Honor System, which we all believe in and want to grow stronger—is great training for UVA graduates to go out and be the future leaders of our country… That makes us very different from so many other schools in this country. This is what makes me so proud to be associated with UVA. I hope that the students realize how unique it is here and how much it prepares you for leadership for the rest of your life.”
Mary Kate Cary’s love for UVA is valued and admired by many, and is undoubtedly seen in her commitment to bettering and strengthening the UVA experience for her students. It certainly wouldn’t be surprising if, one day, a former student of hers is sitting in the White House!
Andrew Reynolds, College ‘73 says
Terrific article and interview, Alexander. Thanks for it and keep up the good journalism.
Wahoo74 says
Superb article, Alexander. UVA and The Jefferson Independent is very lucky to get an international student of your caliber for a year. I know you love your native Germany, but I hope you are able to stay here in the States for at least a few years after you get your Masters.
Thank you also for bringing a professor of Mary Kate Cary’s caliber to everyone’s attention. She is a treasure to the University and an example for all who aspire to true intellectual diversity.