jeffrey peter hart (february 23, 1930 – february 16, 2019) was an american cultural critic, essayist and columnist. he was born in brooklyn, new york. hart was professor emeritus of english at dartmouth college. hart took a leave of absence from dartmouth in 1968 to work for the abortive presidential campaign of governor of california ronald reagan. this role led to brief service as a white house speechwriter for richard nixon.