{{Short description|American writer}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Bill McGurn |image = William McGurn 1.jpg |office = [[White House Director of Speechwriting]] |president = [[George W. Bush]] |term_start = June 14, 2006 |term_end = December 14, 2007 |predecessor = [[Michael Gerson]] |successor = [[Marc Thiessen]] |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1958|12|4}} |birth_place = [[San Diego]], [[California]], U.S. |death_date = |death_place = |party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] |spouse = Julie Hoffman |children = 3 |education = [[University of Notre Dame]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Boston University]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]]) }} '''William McGurn''' (born December 4, 1958) is an American political writer. He was the chief speechwriter for [[President of the United States|President]] [[George W. Bush]] from June 2006 until February 2008, replacing [[Michael Gerson]].<ref>[http://www2.nationalreview.com/dest/2008/02/08/scann001.pdf ''National Review'' PDF]</ref>
==Early life== McGurn was born December 4, 1958, in San Diego. He received his bachelor's degree in [[philosophy]] from the [[University of Notre Dame]] in 1981; he later earned a master's degree in communications from [[Boston University]].<ref name="WSJ bio">[http://www.opinionjournal.com/bios/bio_mcgurn.html ''Wall Street Journal'' profile]</ref>
==Career== He began his career as the managing editor at the ''[[American Spectator]]''. In 1989, he moved to ''[[National Review]]'' where he was the Washington Bureau Chief until 1992. From 1992 to 1998, McGurn served as the senior editor of the ''[[Far Eastern Economic Review]]''. He then became Chief Editorial Writer for ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]''. He joined the White House as a speechwriter in February 2005. He became the Chief Speechwriter for President George W. Bush in 2006. In February 2008 he departed to become a visiting fellow at [[Hillsdale College]]. Early in 2009 he joined [[News Corporation]], which had bought ''The Wall Street Journal'' in August 2007, as the speechwriter for News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch. In December 2012, he became Editorial Page Editor of the ''[[New York Post]]''. He rejoined ''The Wall Street Journal'' in April 2015 and now writes the Main Street [[columnist|column]]; he is also an executive at its parent company.<ref name="WSJ bio" /><ref>Dylan Byers, [https://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/12/william-mcgurn-named-new-york-post-editorial-page-editor-151642 William McGurn named New York Post editorial page editor], ''[[Politico]]'', 12/11/12.</ref><ref>[https://www.nndb.com/people/507/000213865/ William McGurn biography].</ref>
On January 23, 2023, two days after the [[2023 Monterey Park shooting|2023 Monterey Park Shooting]], McGurn published an op-ed titled, "Are There “Too Many Asians”?" in the ''Wall Street Journal'' opinion section. Its headline was criticized for its supposed insensitivity. The article was later renamed "China and the Population Bomb That Wasn’t".<ref>{{Cite web |last=McGurn |first=William |title=Opinion {{!}} China and the Population Bomb That Wasn't |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/are-there-too-many-asians-population-control-china-children-babies-family-growth-humanity-birth-rate-11674508135 |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=WSJ |language=en-US}}</ref> The article in fact criticized the long-term Western policies and perspectives that were instrumental in forming the [[One-child policy|Chinese "one child" policy]]. The article ended by decrying the fact that recognitions of the harms inherent in such a policy came 50 years too late.
==Personal life== McGurn and his wife, Julie Hoffman, live in [[Madison, New Jersey|Madison]], [[New Jersey]]. They previously lived in Hong Kong where they adopted three daughters from China.<ref>McGurn, William. [http://www.heartland.org/full/16352/Hostage_to_NJ_Transit.html "Hostage to NJ Transit"]{{Dead link|date=November 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}, ''[[New York Post]]'', republished online by [[The Heartland Institute]], 17 November 2004. Accessed July 19, 2011. "To put this all in perspective, the brochure for my 1910 home in suburban Madison boasts that the 'fastest train' will get you to [[Manhattan]] in 47 minutes."</ref><ref>McGurn, William. [https://www.nndb.com/people/507/000213865/ "NNDB Biography"].</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|William McGurn}} * {{C-SPAN|10486}} *[https://nypost.com/author/william-mcgurn/ McGurn's NY Post Archive]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McGurn, William}} [[Category:1958 births]] [[Category:American columnists]] [[Category:American speechwriters]] [[Category:Boston University College of Communication alumni]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:National Review people]] [[Category:People from Madison, New Jersey]] [[Category:The American Spectator people]] [[Category:University of Notre Dame alumni]] [[Category:White House directors of speechwriting]]