Theodore C. Sorensen

“A brilliant and essential document about the man, the President, and his times. In all the millions of words which have been written about the martyred President, this book must remain unique. . . . It is John F. Kennedy’s life, his personality, his thinking which informed his action and that action itself described with honest and candor which illuminate and enliven the crowded pages of this book. Sorensen has managed to portray Kennedy in realistic human terms and not as the hero of a myth. . . . It is the richness of detail, anecdotes, incidents, conversations, descriptions rather than any gossip or startling revelations which gives the book its compelling readability.” ― Los Angeles TimesThe classic, intimate, and #1 national bestselling biography of JFK by his great advisor Ted Sorensen. In January 1953, freshman senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts hired a twenty-four-year-old from Nebraska as his Number Two legislative assistant―on a trial basis. Despite the differences in their backgrounds, in the eleven years that followed Ted Sorensen became known as Kennedy's intellectual blood bank, top policy aide, and alter ego. Sorensen knew Kennedy the man, the senator, the candidate, and the president as no other associate did. From his role as a legislative assistant to Kennedy's death in 1963, Sorensen was with him during the key crises and turning points―including the spectacular race for the vice presidency at the 1956 convention, the launching of Kennedy's presidential candidacy, the TV debates with Nixon, and election night at Hyannis Port. The first appointment made by the new president was to name Ted Sorensen his Special Counsel. In Kennedy , Sorensen recounts failures as well as successes with surprising candor and objectivity. He reveals Kennedy's errors on the Bay of Pigs, and his attitudes toward the press, Congress, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Sorensen saw firsthand Kennedy's actions in the Cuban missile crisis, and the evolution of his beliefs on civil rights and arms control. First published in 1965 and reissued here with a new preface, Kennedy is an intimate biography of an extraordinary man, and one of the most important historical accounts of the twentieth century.

In this gripping memoir, John F. Kennedy's closest advisor recounts in full for the first time his experience counseling Kennedy through the most dramatic moments in American history. Sorensen returns to January 1953, when he and the freshman senator from Massachusetts began their extraordinary professional and personal relationship. Rising from legislative assistant to speechwriter and advisor, the young lawyer from Nebraska worked closely with JFK on his most important speeches, as well as his book Profiles in Courage . Sorensen encouraged the junior senator's political ambitions—from a failed bid for the vice presidential nomination in 1956 to the successful presidential campaign in 1960, after which he was named Special Counsel to the President. Sorensen describes in thrilling detail his experience advising JFK during some of the most crucial days of his presidency, from the decision to go to the moon to the Cuban Missile Crisis, when JFK requested that the thirty-four-year-old Sorensen draft the key letter to Khrushchev at the most critical point of the world's first nuclear confrontation. After Kennedy was assassinated, Sorensen stayed with President Johnson for a few months before leaving to write a biography of JFK. In 1968 he returned to Washington to help run Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign. Through it all, Sorensen never lost sight of the ideals that brought him to Washington and to the White House, working tirelessly to promote and defend free, peaceful societies. Illuminating, revelatory, and utterly compelling, Counselor is the brilliant, long-awaited memoir from the remarkable man who shaped the presidency and the legacy of one of the greatest leaders America has ever known.

The late President Kennedy's principal policy adviser and speechwriter articulates the strengths and aims of the Democratic party, explaining the party's basic platform and his own reasons for staying to true to the party line. National ad/promo.

Faced with divided advisers, limited options, contradictory evidence, and the profound global consequences of their choices, how do presidents reach a decision in a time of crisis? As a speechwriter and close adviser to John F. Kennedy, Ted Sorensen, whom the New York Times referred to as Kennedy's "brilliant alter ego," drafted many of the president's key public statements and was a participant in some of the toughest decisions made by an American president. In the shadow of potential nuclear war, John F. Kennedy had to weigh, with extreme, sometimes excruciating delicacy, his options as he responded to the Cuban Missile Crisis, the construction of the Berlin Wall, and other domestic and foreign crises. In these famous lectures, Sorensen draws on his firsthand experiences in the Kennedy White House to analyze the political and personal dimensions of presidential decision-making and the necessary attributes of an effective leader. In particular, Sorensen emphasizes knowing and remaining open to all options; the need to make an informed, prudent, and resolute choice; the importance of avoiding any appearance of deception; and the necessity of understanding decisions made by past presidents and recognizing the limitations of presidential power.This edition includes a new preface by the author, comparing the very different decision-making styles of George W. Bush and John F. Kennedy. Sorensen argues that Bush's failure to seek support from the international community, explore all his options, and fully investigate the facts presented to him have contributed to U.S. difficulties in Iraq. In light of the findings of the 9/11 Commission and the numerous accounts of George W. Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq, Sorensen's observations offer timely insights and analysis as the United States and the American president confront a new set of challenges.

Examines the development of the Kennedy ideals and explores their relevance in today's world

In "Watchmen in the Night," Theodore Sorensen, lawyer and advisor to President John F. Kennedy, offers a comprehensive examination of Watergate and what Richard Nixon's reign and resignation mean to the American Presidency. Rejecting both the assertion that Nixon was a mere aberration and the assertion that Watergate was a culmination of what other Presidents had done, Sorenson sorts out what was new and different in Watergate, including some frank admissions about the Kennedy White House.The Presidency as seen from the inside is not as powerful as it looks from the outside, he writes, commenting on the limitations imposed by the bureaucracy, the press, the Congress, and the courts. Sorensen, while acknowledging a change in perspective since his White House days, still favors a strong Presidency and in fact believes it should be stronger on economic matters. Nevertheless, he feels too strongly about Vietnam and Watergate to defend the status quo, and insists on specific steps to implement "accountability." He deflates the mystique of the Presidency, urges reform in our selection of Presidents, and suggests specific clues for which to look in predicting presidential megalomania. His comparison of the Nixon and Kennedy staffs is particularly insightful.All of this is illustrated with examples of good and bad uses of presidential power. "Watchmen in the Night" gives the reader an extraordinary sense of how the White House is run and how it should be run.

Details the events transpiring in the United States government when an American U-2 discovered Soviet missile bases in Cuba in 1962.

Different Kind of A Proposal for Breaking the Political Deadlock 1984 (Hardcover) by Theodore C. Sorensen 144 pages Joanna Cotler Books; 1st edition (July 1984) English 0060390328 978-0060390327 Product 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches Shipping 11.2 ounces

Ted Sorensen, der var John F. Kennedys personlige rådgiver, fortæller i denne bog om de vanskelige og til tider uigennemskuelige beslutningsprocesser i Det Hvide Hus.I forordet skriver John. F. "Forfatteren af denne bog har været en støt og fintmærkende medarbejder ved præsidentgerningen. Kun få skribenter har formået at isolere de enkelte elementer i præsidentens beslutningsproces så præcist og med så megen indlevelse. Der vil altid være mørke og spegede strækninger på vejen til afgørelsen – mystiske selv for de indviede – men Mr. Sorensen har mere end nogen anden moderne amerikansk skribent bidraget til at blotlægge sceneriet med dygtighed og omtanke. Han har deltaget i og iagttaget vigtige afgørelser i vanskelige situationer. Hans omhyggelige iagttagelser er gjort med indsigt og forståelse, og jeg er sikker på, at hans bog vil blive et bidrag af blivende værdi til den lille hylde med uundværlige bøger om det amerikanske præsidentembede."

A powerfully moving biography of JFK by one of his closest friends and advisors. Sorensen's work was first published in 1965 when the wounds caused by the assassination had barely time to heal. It has remained a classic and is indispensable for an evaluation of Kennedy and his place in history.

Ted Sorensen, der var John F. Kennedys personlige rådgiver, fortæller i denne bog om de vanskelige og til tider uigennemskuelige beslutningsprocesser i Det Hvide Hus.I forordet skriver John. F. "Forfatteren af denne bog har været en støt og fintmærkende medarbejder ved præsidentgerningen. Kun få skribenter har formået at isolere de enkelte elementer i præsidentens beslutningsproces så præcist og med så megen indlevelse. Der vil altid være mørke og spegede strækninger på vejen til afgørelsen – mystiske selv for de indviede – men Mr. Sorensen har mere end nogen anden moderne amerikansk skribent bidraget til at blotlægge sceneriet med dygtighed og omtanke. Han har deltaget i og iagttaget vigtige afgørelser i vanskelige situationer. Hans omhyggelige iagttagelser er gjort med indsigt og forståelse, og jeg er sikker på, at hans bog vil blive et bidrag af blivende værdi til den lille hylde med uundværlige bøger om det amerikanske præsidentembede."Theodore Chaikin "Ted" Sorensen (1928-2010) var i en årrække en af præsident John F. Kennedys nærmeste rådgivere. Han blev født i Nebraska, studerede jura, arbejdede et par år som sagfører og blev i 1953 indlemmet i Kennedys stab. Fra 1961-64 fungerede Ted Sorensen som præsidentens personlige rådgiver.

The experience of the Civil War can only be understood when viewed from multiple perspectives. These four volumes contain the insights of the supreme commanders on both sides of the dividing line, the story of the rise and fall of the Confederate Nation from its most distinguished historian, and the classic account of camp life from a soldier in the Union Army. Taken together they present in wide angle and in sharp focus the cataclysm that tore the nation asunder. Included in this set Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, Recollections and Letter of Robert E. Lee, From Manassas to Appomattox, and Hard Tack & Soldier’s life in the Civil War

The JFK Remembered series is a collection of historic recorded interviews with associates, inner staff and cabinet members, and apposing politicians who knew the President John F. Kennedy. Each volume details the impressions JFK made on the men interviewed both as a man and as President. In Volume 3 Theodore C. Sorensen, staff assistant, speech writer to Senator John F. Kennedy (1953-1961) and Special Counsel to the President (1961-1964) focuses on Robert Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign, his meeting with President Johnson, wiretapping, and the review of Sorensen’s book Kennedy, among other issues.