Harry Scherer

Harry Scherer hails from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was a Claremont Institute Publius Fellow in 2024. He currently serves as speechwriter in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Harry earned a master’s degree from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and a bachelor’s degree from Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland. His writing has been featured in The American Conservative, Washington Examiner, The Lamp, Newsweek, The Federalist, and other publications.

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What is your current position?

I currently serve as speechwriter in the Office of the Secretary at the Department of Agriculture; the following answers represent only my own views.

What inspired you to choose this career path?

The agenda of the Trump-Vance administration and a concern for the written word, which was established by my parents, teachers, and mentors.

How did you hear about the Claremont Institute?

From trusted friends in Washington.

What is your fondest memory of the Claremont Institute?

Watching the June 2024 debate with fellow Publius fellows and Claremont faculty.

There are all sorts of educational programs out there for current and rising conservative professionals.  What do you think makes the Claremont Institute’s Fellowships unique?

Claremont’s project is unabashedly American. This is not the case everywhere.

Who would you hope the individual would be, if you could sit down and enjoy a meal with an American Founder or any great thinker? 

Alexander Hamilton at the Round Robin Bar.

What would the artifact be, if you could hold one piece of history from the early founding of our country? 

One of Charles Carroll’s pens.

In which one of the original 13 colonies, looking back on history, would you have wanted to live?  Why?

Pennsylvania because it’s home.

What do you believe is the biggest challenge facing educators?

For the educators who love our country, their biggest challenges seem to be administrators who don’t know what good teaching looks like and the hollowing out of their profession by adjuncts.

What do you believe is the biggest challenge facing students?

For some, parents who relinquish their position as the primary educators of their children.

What book, movie, or speech has left a lasting impression on you? Why?

Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life because there’s nothing wrong with indulging in nostalgia.

What is the most distinctive attribute/character of the people in the state where you grew up that you genuinely admire?

Pittsburghers are kind to, and go out of their way for, strangers. In D.C., only saints acknowledge the presence of strangers.