Theodore C. Sorensen
| Ted Sorensen | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| White House Counsel | |
|
In office January 20, 1961 – February 29, 1964 |
|
| President |
John F. Kennedy Lyndon Johnson |
| Preceded by | David Kendall |
| Succeeded by | Mike Feldman |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Theodore Chaikin Sorensen May 8, 1928 Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Died | October 31, 2010 (aged 82) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Camilla Palmer (Divorced) Sara Elbery (Divorced) Gillian Martin (1969–2010) |
| Children | 4 (including Juliet) |
| Education | University of Nebraska, Lincoln (BA, LLB) |
Theodore Chaikin "Ted" Sorensen (May 8, 1928 – October 31, 2010) was an American lawyer, writer, and presidential adviser. He was a speechwriter for President John F. Kennedy, as well as one of his closest advisers. President Kennedy once called him his "intellectual blood bank."
Sorensen was born in Nebraska, the son of Christian A. Sorensen, who served as Nebraska attorney general (1929–33), and Annis (Chaikin) Sorensen. His father was Danish American and his mother was of Russian Jewish descent. His younger brother, Philip C. Sorensen, later became the lieutenant governor of Nebraska. He graduated from Lincoln High School during 1945. He earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and attended law school there, graduating first in his class.
During January 1953, the 24-year-old Sorensen became the new Senator John F. Kennedy's chief legislative aide. He wrote many of Kennedy's articles and speeches. In his 2008 autobiography Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History, Sorensen said he wrote "a first draft of most of the chapters" of John F. Kennedy’s 1957 book Profiles in Courage and "helped choose the words of many of its sentences."
Sorensen was President Kennedy's special counsel, adviser, and primary speechwriter, the role for which he is remembered best. He helped draft the inaugural address in which Kennedy said famously, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." Although Sorensen played an important part in the composition of the inaugural address, "the speech and its famous turn of phrase that everyone remembers was," Sorensen has stated (counter to what the majority of authors, journalists, and other media sources have claimed), "written by Kennedy himself." In his 2008 memoir, Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History, Sorenson claimed, "The truth is that I simply don't remember where the line came from."
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