Theodore C. Sorensen

Theodore C. “Ted” Sorensen – Life, Career, and Legacy

Theodore C. Sorensen (1928–2010) was an American lawyer, presidential adviser, and key speechwriter for John F. Kennedy. This article explores his life, career, influence, writings, and enduring impact.

Introduction

Theodore Chaikin “Ted” Sorensen was a towering figure in American political history—best known as the close adviser, confidant, and speechwriter for President John F. Kennedy. Over a long career, he shaped presidential rhetoric, participated in major Cold War events, and practiced international law, all while writing books that reflected his ideals about leadership and democracy. His life offers a rich window into how language, politics, and law interweave in public life.

Early Life and Education

• Sorensen was born on May 8, 1928, in Lincoln, Nebraska.

• He was one of five children of Christian A. Sorensen (who later served as Nebraska’s Attorney General) and Annis Chaikin Sorensen (of Russian Jewish heritage).

• His family home in Lincoln was in a modest “sod house,” and the Sorensen household was known for spirited political conversations, which helped shape his early sensibilities.

• He attended Lincoln High School, graduating in 1945.

• Sorensen went on to the University of Nebraska, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1949, then attended the University’s law school. He graduated first in his class from the law school and was editor in chief of the Nebraska Law Review.

• Early in life, he registered as a conscientious objector (identifying himself as a “peacemaker”) when he became of draft age.

Early Career & Rise in Washington

• After law school, Sorensen worked briefly in federal agencies: as a staff attorney for the Federal Security Agency (1951–52) and on the Joint Committee on Railroad Retirement.

• In 1953, at age 24, he became legislative aide to Senator John F. Kennedy.

• Over the 1950s, he was a key speechwriter, adviser, and policy aide to Kennedy, contributing significantly to essays, speeches, and Kennedy’s profile in public life.

• Sorensen is widely understood to have contributed to the drafting of Profiles in Courage (1956). In his autobiography, he says he “wrote a first draft of most of the chapters” and helped choose many sentences.

• He also helped craft Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural address and other major speeches. However, he insisted that Kennedy was the ultimate author and that his role was interpretive, not ghostwriting in the strictest sense.

White House Years: Counsel, Adviser, & Crisis Moments

• When Kennedy became President in 1961, he appointed Sorensen Special Counsel to the President, a role created specially for him.

• Sorensen was deeply involved in policy, communications, and crises. For example, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, he was part of the ExComm (Executive Committee) advising Kennedy.

• After Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, Sorensen helped manage the transition and drafted President Lyndon B. Johnson’s address, “Let Us Continue.”

• Sorensen remained in the Kennedy/Johnson White House until February 29, 1964, when he officially resigned.

• After leaving the White House, he continued to defend and interpret Kennedy’s legacy in public and in books.

Legal Practice, Writing, and Later Work

• Sorensen joined the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in New York as counsel and later senior partner, practicing international law for more than 36 years.

• He advised U.S. and multinational corporations, foreign governments, and engaged in high-level negotiations in numerous countries across multiple continents.

• Sorensen also remained politically active, serving as adviser to Robert F. Kennedy in his 1968 presidential campaign and participating in Democratic politics in various roles.

• In 1977, he was briefly nominated by President Jimmy Carter to be Director of the CIA, but his nomination was withdrawn before Senate confirmation.

• Over his lifetime, he authored or edited several books, including Kennedy (1965), The Kennedy Legacy, Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History (memoir, 2008), Let the Word Go Forth, and others.

• In February 2010, he was awarded the National Humanities Medal for his contributions to public understanding of American politics and rhetoric.

Personality, Influence & Approach

• Sorensen was known for his loyalty, intellectual vigor, and eloquence. He saw himself less as a ghostwriter than as a translator of a president’s ideals into persuasive language.

• He believed in the moral power of words—that effective rhetoric can rally citizens, clarify policy, and shape history.

• For him, public service and democratic values were central: many of his speeches, books, and public commentary reflect a conviction that America’s strength lies not just in power, but in ideals, responsibility, and dialogue.

• He was also deliberate about what credit he claimed—many accounts note his insistence that ideas and authorship belong to Kennedy, though he shaped much of the phrasing and structure.

Legacy & Impact

• Sorensen helped elevate the role of speechwriters in American politics by demonstrating how closely they can participate in decision-making. His model influenced how subsequent presidents chose and used speechwriters.

• His writings, especially Kennedy and Counselor, remain important sources for understanding the Kennedy presidency, American idealism, and rhetorical leadership.

• In legal circles, his international practice and wise counsel to governments and corporations showed how a former political adviser can influence global affairs in private life.

• His public statements and writings after the Kennedy years kept alive debates about democracy, ethics, foreign policy, and the responsibilities of leadership.

• Awarding him the National Humanities Medal was a recognition of the way his work bridged politics, literature, and public thought.

Selected Quotes by Theodore C. Sorensen

• “We shall listen, not lecture; learn, not threaten. … Our foreign policy will rest on the traditional American values of restraint and empathy, not on military might.”

• “I believe in an America in which the fruits of productivity and prosperity are shared by all … by those at the bottom as well as those at the top.”

• “Our surest protection against assault from abroad has been not all our guards, gates and guns … but our essential goodness as a people. Our richest asset has been not our material wealth but our values.”

• “Military strength in reserve is better than military strength being rained upon the other side including all of its innocent civilians.”

Conclusion

Theodore C. Sorensen’s life epitomizes the power of rhetoric, intellect, and public service working in tandem. He stands not just as the architect behind some of the most memorable lines of an era, but as a principled participant in the shaping of American policy and identity. His legacy—through his books, speeches, legal work, and example—continues to offer lessons about language, leadership, and the public good.