Mark Salter (born 1955) is an American speechwriter from Davenport, Iowa, known for his collaborations with United States Senator John McCain on several nonfiction books as well as on political speeches.
[3] Salter had a wandering upbringing and early adulthood, not settling down, working on railroad track maintenance in Iowa for four years and playing in a music group.
[8] During the 2008 presidential campaign, he was named by Politico as a possible pick for White House Chief of Staff, should John McCain win the election against Democratic candidate Barack Obama.
[9] Howard Fineman wrote in a 2008 Newsweek article: "McCain and Salter are stylistically similar and share a world view: they like to operate in intimate settings, with a loyal band of brothers, a clear enemy in sight and an almost joyful fatalism in the face of long odds.
[3] He was portrayed by actor Jamey Sheridan in the 2012 HBO production of Game Change for his role in the latter months of McCain's unsuccessful 2008 Presidential campaign.
[1] That even split is a rarity in the political world, which often uses flat-rate ghostwriters, and allowed Salter and his wife—herself a former secretary on McCain's staff—to set up a second residence in Maine.
In May 2016 Salter announced he would support Hillary Clinton in the 2016 United States presidential election, rather than presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.