James G. McGrath

Jim McGrath addresses Westside neighborhood leaders in on combating crime in relation to Begala-McGrath’s work for client and Houston icon Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale.

McGrath and Continental Airline CEO Gordon Bethune share a light moment prior to a news conference on post-9/11 air safety.

McGrath with Korean War veteran and TV personality Ed McMahon after taping interview for documentary.

McGrath, in green shirt, prepares to interview Korean War veteran at Arlington National Cemetery for his documentary Hope and Remembrance.

McGrath, right, stands with Gerry Stolar, the branch director of FEMA’s Galveston Area Field Office, during a Begala-McGrath coordinated press conference at Bermuda Beach featuring former Presidents Bush 41 and Clinton, and former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III. (Photo credit: Mark J. Burns)

McGrath coordinating press on the three-story media riser on Pier 14 at Norfolk Naval Base, just prior to the commissioning ceremony for the USS George H. W. Bush on January 10, 2009.

McGrath consults with former President George Bush before a series of local interviews with Houston media at Reliant Stadium following the influx of Hurricane Katrina evacuees from New Orleans into Texas. Begala-McGrath handled the media logistics for the launching of the Bush-Clinton Hurricane Relief Fund that day.

GALLERY

If you need to write it or say it — in person, on paper, or on screen — Jim McGrath has built a career helping successful executives and officials just like you do it.

Since 1997, Jim has run CEO Communications, a Houston-based communications firm delivering a broad range of services to a respected roster of business, civic, and political leaders. Before that, McGrath worked at The White House from 1991 to 1993 as a writer and editor; and today, he continues to serve President George H. W. Bush as his speechwriter, producing hundreds of speeches, statements, and video presentations in dozens of foreign countries and most of the 50 U.S. states. McGrath frequently represents President and Mrs. Bush as their liaison with the news media.

From 1997 to 1998, Jim served as Deputy Press Secretary for George W. Bush’s re-election campaign for Governor of Texas. McGrath has also counseled numerous political candidates at the local, state and federal levels.

Simon & Schuster published Jim’s first book, Heartbeat: George Bush in His Own Words in 2001. McGrath then assisted David Kearns, the widely admired former Chairman and CEO of Xerox Corporation, with his personal memoirs entitled Crossing the Bridge. The writer next helped Doro Bush Koch research, write, and edit My Father, My President: A Personal Account of the Life of George H. W. Bush; and he is currently working with former Commerce Secretary Robert A. Mosbacher, Sr. to complete a family memoirs tentatively titled That’s My Pop.

Jim produced “Hope and Remembrance: The 50th Anniversary of the Korean War Ceasefire,” a $600,000 documentary project aired in Seoul in July 2003 at the official Korean Government ceremonies marking that milestone.

Now, McGrath is teaming with a respected colleague and fellow Houstonian, Chris Begala, to leverage their unique experiences and contacts to assist their joint clients in achieving their strategic communications objectives.