Since Joining the White House in early 1995, presidential speechwriter Terry Edmonds has toiled far away from the news media spotlight that closely follows President Bill Clinton and his top aides.

Speechwriters rarely become known to the public and the soft-spoken Edmonds has preferred to steer clear of the media. But when it came time for President Clinton to deliver last month's commencement address at Morgan State University -- the first ever by a sitting U.S. president at a public historically Black college or university -- Edmonds found it difficult to escape the public spotlight.

As a graduate of Morgan State who has worked in public relations and public affairs for the past twenty-four years, the forty-seven-year-old Edmonds suddenly found himself thrust into the public consciousness. It became a career highlight when White House aides chose him as the primary writer of the historic commencement address. Edmonds said he was delighted about his role in the honor given to his alma mater.

"I was very proud of the speech," Edmonds said.

Believed to be the first full-time African American presidential speechwriter in U.S. history, Edmonds attracted attention for his behind-the-scenes role in drafting President Clinton's speech. The speech by Clinton drew headlines around the nation because he announced a major research push for an AIDS vaccine. Edmonds said he believed the African American audience appreciated hearing a presidential speech that addressed AIDS because the disease has had a devastating impact on the Black community.

"I think the audience was receptive to the message," he said.

The Wall Street Journal, The Baltimore Sun, and The Washington Post were among publications that singled out Edmonds's efforts on the Morgan State address. And Edmonds is expected to play an ongoing role in helping the president craft speeches for a major race relations initiative that the White House is undertaking.

Last month's apology by Clinton to survivors and families of untreated Black syphilis victims in Tuskegee, Alabama, marked the first of several events the president is leading in hopes of starting a frank discussion among Americans about race relations. The Tuskegee syphilis victims, which numbered in the hundreds, had participated in a federal study that left their disease untreated for decades.