Theodore Chaikin Sorensen (May 8, 1928 – October 31, 2010) was an American lawyer, writer, and presidential adviser. Many have attempted to credit Sorensen as the writer behind John F. Kennedy's speeches, but in the introduction to "Let the Word Go Forth", a book of Kennedy's speeches, statements, and writings from 1947 to 1963, Sorensen states: "John Kennedy was the true author of all his speeches and writings. They set forth his (italic emphasis by Sorensen) ideas and ideals, his decisions and policies, his knowledge of history and politics...More importantly, he alone was responsible for the decision that lay at the heart of every major speech." Kennedy would later pen Profiles in Courage, for which he won the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for Biography; Sorensen provided assistance in assembling the work. He also assisted in Kennedy's inaugural address and drafted Lyndon Johnson's Let Us Continue speech following Kennedy's assassination.
>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
Ted Sorensen in the context of Profiles in Courage
Profiles in Courage is a 1956 volume of short biographies describing acts of bravery and integrity by eight United States senators. The book, authored by John F. Kennedy with Ted Sorensen as a ghostwriter, profiles senators who defied the opinions of their party and constituents to do what they felt was right and suffered severe criticism and losses in popularity as a result. It begins with a quotation from Edmund Burke on the courage of the English statesman Charles James Fox, in his 1783 "attack upon the tyranny of the East India Company" in the House of Commons, and focuses on mid-19th-century antebellum America and the efforts of senators to delay the American Civil War. Profiles in Courage was widely celebrated and became a bestseller. It includes a foreword by Allan Nevins.
John F. Kennedy, then a U.S. senator, won the Pulitzer Prize for the work. However, in his 2008 autobiography, Kennedy's speechwriter Ted Sorensen, who was presumed as early as 1957 to be the book's ghostwriter, acknowledged that he "did a first draft of most chapters" and "helped choose the words of many of its sentences". Jules Davids, who was a history professor for Kennedy's wife Jacqueline when she was a student at George Washington University, is also acknowledged to have made key contributions to the historical research and organizational planning for the book.