Students meet former Press Secretary Marlin FItzwater

by Katie Silverman

Presidency and the Press students joined Marlin Fitzwater, former Press Secretary for the Reagan and Bush administrations at the Manchester Fitzwater Center Facilities for a chance to interview and learn more about this historic figure.

The evening began as Fitzwater played his slideshow of images from his time as press secretary for the students over dinner.

Each photo had an individual story that Fitzwater told to the group.

After showing a picture of former USSR president Gorbachev holding a fist to Marlin as he reached out to shake it, Fitzwater admitted that that had been one of the scariest moments during his tenure as press secretary.

Fitzwater had made the statement that Russia and the US were “old enemies, not old friends.” Gorbachev had said, “In my country, there would be punishments for such claims.”

Students had come prepared with a series of questions that they each planned to ask Fitzwater.

Stephen Keimig, 18 year old incoming freshman at FPU personally interviewed Fitzwater.  He said, “It was a special experience to interview a person of such great importance.  He was extremely knowledgeable about the topics of our interview and answered all the questions smoothly and professionally.  He incorporated interesting stories from his past experiences and brought a sense of charisma to the interview which made it very enjoyable.”