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.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
The Keeper of the Kennedy Flame:
Ted Sorensen, who was as much a Kennedy alter ego as he was a speechwriter, is the keeper of the Kennedy flame. In that capacity he wrote Kennedy's biography in 1965. But that book was wooden and lacking in perspective. This book is written after Sorensen has lived a full lifetime and enjoys the perspective of history. He's somewhat more capable of being critical of Kennedy than he was in 1965, but he's still a Kennedy booster. And this time around, he is armed with the vindication brought by 40 years of... more info
Time well spent:
Counselor was very much what I expected., having heard a radio interview between Bob Edwards and the erudite Mr. Sorenson. Bordering on hero worship but honest and informative, this book confirmed what I always felt about JFK, that he was one of a kind and American politics has not and possibly may not see his ilk again.
Ted Sorensen's 2008 Convention Speech:
Ted Sorensen's 2008 Convention Speech
Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 03:20 PM "In my more than 50 years of national conventions, this is one of the most important. Our 8 year national nightmare of mendacity, mediocrity and economic misery--with millions of Americans losing their jobs, their savings, their homes and their hopes--will soon end with the election of Barack Obama. I have long dreamed that our party would produce another president matching John F. Kennedy's intellect and integrity,... more info
Sorenson audio-book review:
A fascinating look at a fascinating time from a unique perspective, Ted Sorenson. Sorenson's own words & voice inflections are preserved for future generations. Anyone interested in the Kennedy Presidential era should add this to their collection. A must!
