| The GROOM: Mr. James Brendan Edmund O'Neill was born on February 27, 1968, in Charleston, South Carolina, to Mr. and Mrs. John Patrick O'Neill. He was the first of three children. Because James's father was in the Air Force, the family moved often. They lived longest in San Antonio, his hometown. James graduated from Yale College in 1990, having majored in humanities. After writing at the White House for President George H. W. Bush and writing speeches for Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, he returned to school and earned a Master's Degree in Humanities (Philosophy) from the University of Chicago in 1997. After graduate school, James returned to Texas, where he worked as a speechwriter and as chief operating officer of a dot-com. In 2001, James returned to Washington to join the Bush Administration. He writes speeches for the Secretary of Education, Rod Paige. |
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| The BRIDE: Miss Lien Hoa Helena Johnson was born on March 8, 1979, in Alexandria, Virgnia, to Mr. and Mrs. Peter Lunde Johnson. She was the first of four children. Soon after the third child was born in 1981, the family moved to Annapolis, Maryland, where they remain today. Lien graduated from Yale College in 2001, having majored in history. She spent the summer at the Family Research Council in Washington, DC, as a Witherspoon Fellow. In August, she joined the Heritage Foundation as their Educational Coordinator, and in January she was promoted to Research Assistant to the President where she writes speeches and assists Dr. Feulner in his Mont Pelerin Society duties. |