Mike McCormick

Mike McCormick, lifelong whitewater kayaker

Stenographer White House Press Office (2002-2018)

World traveler on Air Force One and Air Force Two, including combat zones

Oval Office and West Wing duties, 24/7, sometimes so late and lonely the ghosts come out

Co-founder of Team River Runner, a kayak therapy program for wounded service members at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (2004-2007)

Lives with his wife and children in suburban Washington, D.C.

About his White House years Mike says:

"Truth about our political leaders these days is hard to find, especially if you are, like me, a reasonable American disgusted by the ocean of BS we have to navigate to get it.

"My case is a little different, though, because unlike most reasonable Americans, I actually worked closely with those political leaders. I was a stenographer in the White House Press Office for the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations ... It was an exciting job. History happened right in front of me. But then so did a lot of BS. I saw it and heard it firsthand. Much of it the media told you about, but some of it they didn’t."

About his Joe Biden years Mike says:

"Working for Joe Biden as his stenographer for six-plus years meant discretion was built into my job requirements. It was my duty not to say what I saw and heard unless it was within the boundaries of official business. But that duty with Joe ended in the winter of 2017.

"And then one year later, after working as a stenographer in Donald Trump’s White House, I left that job and wrote my first book, Fifteen Years A Deplorable: A White House Memoir.

I’m proud of that book and the tough truths it relates. It centered on my experiences from the inside with biased White House journalists, unreported shortcomings of the Obama White House, Hillary Clinton’s hapless 2016 presidential campaign, and the genius of President Donald Trump.

This book is different. In it I focus specifically on one major American politician, Vice President Joe Biden. I am not spewing hate — there’s more than enough of that being done. On both sides. But I am writing the truth — the good and the bad. This isn’t hearsay, this is “I say”. These are the things I saw."

About his dedication to Presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump Mike says:

"I hear every day about the hate that has consumed our country, especially in the political arena. From my White House vantage point I’ve watched our war of words increase in scope and ferocity over the past 15 years to a point where people who shouldn’t hate each other do.

"But as a grateful White House veteran, I believe deep in my heart our democracy will eventually resolve it. Eventually... Presidents are amazing people. My time among them requires me to state unequivocally: Our presidents love our country. Our presidents work hard for our country — all of our country, every single citizen in it. Our presidents don’t deserve our hate."