Who is Vinay Reddy, first Indian-American in charge of presidential speechwriting?

Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States today (January 20). The US and the world await the moment Biden will deliver his inaugural speech to kick off the new administration. Following a rich tradition, the speech will set the tone for the next four years under the Biden administration.

Through the inaugural speech, Biden is expected to underline the various agenda that is high on his priority list. Helping him in the task will be Vinay Reddy, an Indian-American, who is in charge of the presidential speechwriting.

Reddy serves as the director of The Office of Speechwriting, a presidential department in the White House, which is responsible for preparing the content of the President's speech. He is the first-ever Indian-American to become a presidential speechwriter in the history of the United States.

Born and brought up in the US, Reddy studied at the Ohio State University College of Law. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Miami University and majored in political science and philosophy. His family hails from Pothireddypeta village in Telangana.

Reddy was one of the speechwriters during the Biden-Harris campaign. He also served as the chief speechwriter to Biden between 2013 and 2017, when the latter was the Vice President in the second term of Barack Obama administration.

Mike Donilon, long-time adviser of Biden, will be in charge of reviewing the content of Biden’s inaugural speech, along with Jon Meacham, the presidential historian and biographer.

During his victory speech as President-elect, Biden had said it was “time to heal” and “rebuild the soul of America”. He vowed “not to divide but to unify” the country.

The new administration has already laid out some of the important focus areas in which bold executive orders can be passed within the first few days. In a memo distributed by White House chief of staff Ron Klain, the executive actions could roll back several of former President Donald Trump’s decisions on subjects related to the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, immigration policies and rejoining the Paris climate agreement among others.