Former chief speechwriter for President Clinton Michael Waldman will become a fellow at the Institute of Politics (IOP) at the Kennedy School of Government this fall.

For the past five years, Waldman has worked behind the scenes, crafting the president's speeches.

At the IOP, Waldman will lead a one-and-a-half hour, non-credit study group that will meet twice a week. The study group will focus on the art of speechwriting.

"The presidential speech is not just nice rhetoric and pretty words," Waldman said.

Kathy McLaughlin, the executive director of the IOP, said the fellowship program furthers one of the primary goals of the IOP, to bridge the gap between academia and practical politics.

Waldman said he made the decision to leave his post at the White House several months ago, and was told of the IOP opening in the spring.

According to Waldman, he seized the opportunity to become a fellow because it offered him a chance to take a break from the world of professional politics.

"It is a wonderful opportunity for someone like me to come out of the high pressure cauldron," he said.

In April, he visited the IOP and met with the institute's director, former senator Alan K. Simpson, and a committee of eight students actively involved in the IOP who interviewed him for the job.