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'{{short description|American journalist (born 1958)}} {{BLP sources|date=August 2013}} {{Infobox person |name=Desson Thomson |birth_name=Desson Patrick Thomson<ref>West, Michael J. (October 22, 2021). [https://www.proquest.com/docview/2597594757 "Cairo Fred is many things, just don't try to categorize it"]. ''The Washington Post''. p.&nbsp;6. "Thomson is a political speechwriter and former film critic for the Washington Post. Retrieved March 15, 2022.</ref><ref>[https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KT9R-JZP "Desson P. Thomson, United States Public Records, 1970-2009]. [[FamilySearch]].</ref> |birth_date={{birth year and age|1958}} |birth_place=[[Surrey, England]] |alma_mater=[[American University]] |occupation=Journalist and speechwriter }} '''Desson Patrick Thomson''' is a former [[speechwriter]] for the [[Obama administration]] and former [[Film criticism|film critic]] for ''[[The Washington Post]]''. He was known as '''Desson Howe''' until 2003 when he changed his name after reuniting with his [[birth father]]. ==Biography== Thomson attended [[American University]] from 1975 until 1979, graduating in Spring 1980 with a degree in [[visual communication]]s and [[Cinema Studies|cinema studies]]. He started working for ''[[The Washington Post]]'' in 1983 as a [[Copy editing|copy aide]] for the Style section, and by 1984 was writing [[Freelancer|freelance]] articles for the paper. In 1987 he became a film critic for the paper.<ref>{{cite news |first=Melissa |last=Reichley |title=Alumni Profile: Desson Thomson |url=http://www.american.edu/newsletter/development/2005/feb/desson_0205.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811001645/http://www1.american.edu/newsletter/development/2005/feb/desson_0205.htm |archive-date=2011-08-11 |publisher=American University |date=February 2005 }}</ref> He wrote one of the few negative reviews of multiple [[Academy award]] nominated movie ''[[The Shawshank Redemption]].''<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/theshawshankredemptionrhowe_a03f7a.htm |title='The Shawshank Redemption' (R) |first=Desson |last=Howe |date=September 23, 1994 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> In his review of ''[[Groundhog Day (film)|Groundhog Day]]'', he infamously stated that the film "will never be designated a national film treasure by the Library of Congress."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/groundhogdaypghowe_a0af6c.htm |title='Groundhog Day' |date=February 12, 1993 |first=Desson |last=Howe |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> Thirteen years later, the film would be inducted into the Library of Congress. Thomson left the ''Washington Post'' in 2008, and in 2010 became a speechwriter in the administration of President Barack Obama.<ref>{{cite news |title=Former Post film critic joins Obama administration |first=Ed |last=O'Keefe |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=February 2, 2010 |url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2010/02/former_post_film_critic_joins.html }}</ref> From February 2010 until November 2010 he was stationed in London working for the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, [[Louis Susman]]. In December 2010, he joined the [[Policy Planning Office]] of the [[U.S. Department of State]] as a speechwriter for Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]]. In February 2012, he became a speechwriter and Senior Advisor for Content Development for the [[Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs]]. Until September 2017 he was a speechwriter and senior advisor for [[Charles H. Rivkin]], [[Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs]]. ==References== {{reflist}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Desson}} [[Category:The Washington Post people]] [[Category:American University School of Communication alumni]] [[Category:American film critics]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:1958 births]] [[Category:20th-century American journalists]] [[Category:20th-century American male writers]] [[Category:21st-century American journalists]] [[Category:21st-century American male writers]] [[Category:American male journalists]] [[Category:American speechwriters]] [[Category:Writers from Surrey]] [[Category:English emigrants to the United States]] {{US-journalist-1950s-stub}}'