There comes a point in every English major's academic career where they will be asked the infamous question: "What are you planning to do after graduation?"
The answer to that question varies, but the responses are almost always either distressingly pessimistic or unrealistically ambitious.
Ben Cady, a UB alumnus and former Spectrum Managing Editor, wrestled with those same uncertainties when he graduated with honors in 2005.
But, Cady ended up in a plum job: one that's taken him all the way to the New York State Governor's Mansion.
"When I was graduating, one thing that was tough for me was I didn't really know what was out there," Cady said. "I didn't have a sense for what opportunities were there for someone who was interested in what I was interested in."
It is safe to say that Cady has since discovered what is out there. In the three years since graduation, Cady has swiftly risen through the political ranks to become the chief speechwriter for New York Gov. David A. Paterson.
Cady returned to UB on Wednesday to give a speech on behalf of the Department of English about career possibilities for students with English degrees.
Cady recalls being impressed with former Gov. Eliot Spitzer when he was still the attorney general of New York, which led him to take a job as an intern in Spitzer's fledgling campaign for the governorship.
"This guy was totally unlike anybody I knew," Cady said. "I just decided to take a chance and volunteer for his campaign."
Cady moved to New York City to work for Spitzer's campaign and slept on a friend's couch for several months. During this time, Cady mostly did odd jobs for Spitzer's campaign.
"When I started, I was doing pretty basic stuff: filing things, volunteering for events, cold-calling for fundraising, which I hated," Cady said.
Cady soon began searching for other opportunities within the campaign.
"One day in June [the interns] were having lunch with the campaign's policy director," Cady said. "She just happened to mention in the course of her talk that the heads of policy team... were all from New York City and they didn't know a lot about Upstate issues and they were trying to learn more."
Cady approached the director after the election, mentioned that he was from the area and told her that he could help with any concerns that the new administration might have about the Buffalo area. Cady was soon writing memos for the Spitzer governorship regarding a variety of concerns from Upstate New York and otherwise.
"I was well suited to this because as an English major I learned how to be a capable writer and a capable reader. [Writing] is not a skill that everybody necessarily has," Cady said. "Writing the memos during the campaign was a lot like writing for The Spectrum, you have a ton of information, you have to do a lot of research, you have to find what is important and ask questions and boil it all down."
Cady soon became a regular among the Spitzer campaign and began taking on more complex tasks, such as arranging meetings, making minor public appearances and writing speeches.
Cady's big break as a speechwriter came in October 2005. Spitzer was invited to give the keynote speech at the fall dinner of the Empire State Pride agenda, a major Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender community advocacy group, at the last minute. Spitzer and his aides had to decide whether they should speak out in support of homosexual marriage rights, a move that would draw criticism from the Republican senate, or take a softer approach.
"It was up to me to write the speech and I decided in the spirit of the campaign we were just going to go for it," Cady said. "We were going to make a very strong statement."
When Spitzer was elected that November, Cady was asked to be the chief speechwriter for the governor.
"It was a very exciting time," Cady said. "There was a lot that needed to be done."
Spitzer enacted a wide range of new policies during his time as governor, but also faced his share of controversies including a proposal to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and a clash over the use of state police for surveillance purposes.
However, the most damaging controversy ended Spitzer's career. On March 10, news broke that Spitzer had been involved with a prostitution ring-quickly leading to his resignation.
"We had spent the past three years building something and we invested our entire lives in it," Cady said. "As bad as it was, it was worse for most people than it was for me. I could rebound very quickly."
Lt. Gov. David A. Paterson was quickly sworn in to replace Spitzer as governor and Cady was asked to keep his position as chief speechwriter.
Spitzer and Paterson have some similarities, but also some striking differences, according to Cady.
"Paterson has a very different rhetorical style-he tries to identify common ground," Cady said. "Spitzer was very blunt and a straight shooter."
The way in which Cady delivers his speeches to Paterson are also very different from what he was used to.
"Paterson is blind and does not read Braille," Cady said. "Instead of giving him the text, he does all his speeches from memory. I pick up the phone in my office and dial a special number and read the speech."
Paterson then listens to this speech and memorizes it from the recording, according to Cady.
"I never read a speech into the phone," Cady said. "It holds you to account much more than just handing someone a text."
When writing a speech, Cady discovered that finding a universal meeting is the most important thing a person can do to be effective and persuasive.
"You find that universal meeting by finding out what the governor is really talking about, what this is really about, what's really at stake," Cady said. "That is what will move people from talking about how well he speaks to saying 'let us march.' "
Through all of his efforts and hard work, Cady has not forgotten where he learned these skills that make him a successful speechwriter.
"Those are all things that I learned as an English major here at UB," Cady said.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
