Speakes wrote in his 1988 memoir '' Speaking Out '' that he twice invented statements himself and attributed them to President Reagan . These statements included ones after the KAL 007 shootdown in 1983 and during the Geneva Summit of 1985 . Speakes thought that Gorbachev 's remarks at the summit had been highly quotable while Reagan 's were " disappointingly lackluster " , so he asked his aides to make up some quotes , polished them himself , then issued them to the press as President Reagan 's statements . Speakes ' revelations , something of a side note in the book , touched off a minor controversy ; reporters were annoyed at having been fooled , and Marlin Fitzwater , Speakes 's successor , called it a " damn outrage " and complained that they unfairly called into question the veracity of other presidential statements . Speakes said " I was representing his thought if not his words " , but also apologized to Reagan , saying he had " provided fodder for those who would aim the cannons of criticism at the President I served loyally for 6 years . " Speakes left a job at Merrill Lynch which he had held for a short time as a result of the controversy
KAL 007 shootdown
Korean Air Lines Flight 007
Larry Speakes