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| Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History | 
 enlarge | Author: Ted Sorensen
Publisher: Harper
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  34 reviews
Sales Rank: 4130
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 576
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6.2 x 1.8
ISBN: 0060798718
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.922092
EAN: 9780060798710
ASIN: 0060798718
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 This history was part of my life June 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Ted Sorensen's narrative about his association with JFK , throughout his days as Senator, his run for the presidency and his short time as president, brought back many memories. This book changed my opinion of President Kennedy. I have a new found respect for JFK that hadn't existed before reading this.
Sorensen was on the scene when the Bay of Pigs happened. The Cuban missile crisis, and many other major crisies of the times. It was very interesting to relive these situations from the inside.
Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History June 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a very readable and enoyable book by a man who was involved at the core of JFK's decision-making process. Starting with a history of his family's background and proceeding through his life with Kennedy from his election as Senator till his death and beyond Kennedy, Sorensen weaves a story of being involved at many levels of recent American history. It is a treasure trove for students of recent American history as well as a great source of information for the everyday American.
In Praise of Camelot July 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Few would disagree that John F. Kennedy was one of our most inspirational presidents and that it was a tragedy that he was assassinated. Since the 1950s, it was well known that some of the most memorable words that Kennedy inspired us with were drafted if not written in total by Ted Sorensen, Kennedy's dedicated staffer who played many roles in addition to helping write speeches, books, and articles. Speculation about Sorensen's role was fed by Mr. Sorensen's humble deflection of praise that others aimed in his direction.
Imagine what it would have been like to talk to JFK every day and to see him most days. Imagine, even more, if you were walking on history's stage in your role: You weren't just pouring him coffee.
You could re-title this book as "Dream Job" and you wouldn't be far off.
In Counselor, Mr. Sorensen reveals more than in the past about his personal relationship with President Kennedy, who did what and when, his views about Kennedy's decisions and legacy, and what the lessons for historians are from that era. In letting down his hair, Mr. Sorensen is a loyal heir to the Kennedy legend: He doesn't criticize more than an independent observer would who knew the surface facts. Naturally, he also defends where many would not (he's gentle on Kennedy for increasing the number of military advisors in South Vietnam and letting the military leaders there murder the country's political leader). Further, he seems to have amnesia about what any president did before Kennedy who was not a Democrat (he writes as though there was no space program before Kennedy took office).
One of the most interesting episodes in the book comes long after President Kennedy was killed in the description of Mr. Sorensen's nomination to be CIA head by President Carter. The contrast between Kennedy and Carter could not be clearer in reading how this was handled.
I think we should be generous with Mr. Sorensen. It's been many years. He's almost the last of those who served in those years who knows the inside stories. He also suffered a substantial stroke that affected his vision and made writing this book extremely difficult. I commend Mr. Sorensen for making the effort. There are many lessons here that new administrations can learn from.
I also honor him for his service to the nation, to John F. Kennedy, and to my youthful idealistic dreams by inspiring them with his timeless words. Many will always remember him as a speech writer, but he was truly more . . . especially during those potentially deadly days during the Cuban missile crisis.
Thank you, Mr. Sorensen.
A very good book August 2, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I had a hard time getting used to Sorensen's life being discussed by theme (how he joined Senator Kennedy, his evolving role on the staff, speechwriting, the issue of religion, etc) rather than chronologically. I couldn't help but think that this made his recollections seem a bit shallow, since we are deprived from the moment-to-moment aspect of presidential decision-making and have to rely instead on what are just recollections decades earlier.
But the book provides a fascinating account of the Kennedy years and it is a good way to check the record on specific issues, such as Kennedy's civil rights initiative, without having to hop from one place to another seventy pages later, as would be the case for more traditional biographies. Sorensen was obviously devoted to JFK and feels immense pride and nostalgia at having been his special counsel. He doesn't pretend he was making the decisions for JFK, or anything remotely close to that - he has far too much respect for Kennedy's intelligence to suggest such a thing. Of course, one reason Sorensen was so attached to Kennedy was that he (Sorensen) advised him on far-ranging policies; he liked very much the behind-the-scenes impact he was having on critical issues. (We all would, if we were in his situation.)
The most beautiful chapter by far is the account of Kennedy's assassination and its aftermath. There is a beautiful sentence in that chapter where Sorensen explains that Kennedy's death robbed him (Sorensen) of his future, and later, when he considers other jobs, he quotes his brother as saying (I paraphrase) that the only job Ted Sorensen ever wanted was special counsel to President John F Kennedy, and that job wasn't available any more.
Sorensen makes no mysteries of his dislike of the current Bush administration and his strong support of Obama's campaign for President. The memo for all "presidential hopefuls" on pp.480-484 seems intended for Obama, although Sorensen is probably only repeating ideas he has already shared with the presidential candidate in person. (The last picture in the photo insert is a picture of him with Obama.)
This book will be most appreciated by people who have already read about the Kennedy administration, or just want to focus on a few issues and skip the other chapters.
 Inspiring in places, the book lacks the human touch. August 26, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I am an Irish Catholic, born six months prior to JFK's murder; the admiration for JFK as lost leader has been a backround to my life, and is deeply felt in my society. I have been thrilled on the speeches - `A man on the moon this decade' represents, for me, the it audacity, ambition and directness that I associate with the USA -so I am up for the whole Camelot ticket. I admire what Ted Kennedy has done for the Irish Peace process, and am willing to go along with the Obama endorsement. So I bought this book looking for an insight into JFK's character and the philosophy that backed it up. It gave me neither.
What I had previously known about Ted Sorensen was limited, though I knew he played some part in writing the speeches. In fact it turns out that he was JFK's right hand man for most of the 1950's and special counsel to the President during the Kennedy presidency. However I must admit that when I started the book, I skipped straight to the second section which describes the time that Sorensen started to work with Kennedy, guiltily, I later returned to the first section for the sake of completeness. One of things that struck me about the narrative is Sorensen's complete sublimation of his personality to Kennedy his statement that his role in the speeches and in writing Profiles in Courage, were to express Kennedy's own thoughts, because he, Sorensen, had come to know them so well. I found this a bit creepy.
Another source of guilt for me is the fact, mentioned in the Epilogue, that Sorensen is dictating this book ( to Obama's speechwriter, if I'm not mistaken) having had a stroke in 2001, leaving him with blurred vision, unable to read or write clearly. For a man who is so clearly well read, whose profession and interest centre around reading and writing, this must be devastating. Sorensen has shown remarkable fortitude to deal with this cruel blow.
Despite the above, I didn't enjoy the book. I felt that the view of Kennedy was too deferential, only grudgingly admitting that JFK had any faults, acknowledging only those weaknesses which are now public knowledge - womanizing, the pressure on the New York Times to remove their Vietnam correspondent - " I know of no other instance where he made such a request to another newspaper". Sorensen tells how high-minded Kennedy was in pursuit of policy matters, even to the point of political disadvantage. This to me just did not seem realistic, I do think he showed great courage is tackling the Civil Rights issues associated with desegregating the Southern School system - however I also think its realistic to say that he came to this issue quite late. Even Lincoln came late to Emancipation. His handling of the Bay of Pigs was hesitant, of the Missile Crisis was deft. So I think its ok to say that he learned on the job.
At the same time as JFK is venerated, almost held in aspic, I felt a curious lack of human detail. What made him such a leader? There are flashes of his winning humour - to overcome rumours that his millionaire father was funding his campaign (which was true) JFK read out, at a press gathering, a (false) telegram from his father saying " don't buy one more vote than necessary, I'm damned if I'll pay for a landslide". But what attracted such a talented team, how did JFK overcome his relative youth, his privileged backround and administrative inexperience to become such a courageous leader? There really isn't much clue in this book, I'm afraid.
Sorensen's own view of the team and his role in it is too rosy also. He seems to be surprised to find out that Ken O'Donnell, another Kennedy advisor ( Played by Kevin Costner in the movie Thirteen Days) disliked Sorensen intensely. Indeed Sorensen seems to have been unaware of personal animosity and tension within the Kennedy team at all. I think this is unbelievable, tension among ambitious people under pressure is inevitable. It is incredible to me that Sorensen won't acknowledge its existence. He quotes a Boston Globe editorial (from 1977) which describes Sorensen as " never a well-loved man with his icy brilliance and his hard eye for competence". Why not own up to this? His contempt for President Johnson is just beneath the polite surface, he quotes Jackie's comments on the references to LBJ in Sorenesen's biography of Kennedy "You must know - as well or better than I - his [JFK's] steadily diminishing opinion of him[LBJ]...", the book would be better if we got more of this flesh and blood feel of what it was like to live through the interaction of these characters. There is, however, a classic anecdote which summarises Sorensens view of the contrast between JFK and LBJ - JFK's speech's would quote and reference all manner of classical sources, but when LBJ received a draught speech referencing a quote from Socrates, he crossed out the ancients name and replaced it with `my granddaddy', you can almost see Sorensens nose wrinkle.
Sorensen practised law in New York after leaving government service, occasionally being drawn back into the political life, once tragically with Robert Kennedy, once, sourly, as a potential Carter appointee to the CIA. His candidateship ran into rough water in the Senate, and he was very bruised by fellow Demoncrats and abandoned by Carter. His stories about his international law practice left me a bit cold - He helps found the South Africa Feed Election (SAFE) fund to help South Africa get ready for its first election after Nelson Mandela's release. Anthony O'Reilly is the co-chair of SAFE and Sorensen tells of explaining the work of SAFE to Mandela while flying back to New York from O'Reilly's estate in the Bahamas, on O'Reilly's private plane. Anthony O'Reilly is one of Ireland's richest men, formerly CEO of Heinz, he is a media-magnate who has developed significant media businesses in the new South Africa.
He mentions working to develop a pipeline in Panama in 1976, the agreement was worked out between General Torrijos, Panama's leader (unelected) at the time and the company's president Harold Bernstein. Sorensen takes some pride is stating that thirty years later he returned to renegotiate the deal between Torrijo's son, Martin, then President of Panama and Jay Bernstein, president of the company. I think the feel of the elite going about their business makes me quite uncomfortable.
In truth there are many fine attributes to the book, Sorensens loyalty is evident, his eloquence is breathtaking, his advice on speechwriting and the US political process is acute. I think what I disappointed me most is the absence of a clear political philosophy. His loyalty to and admiration of Kennedy are commendable, his loathing of the current administration is palpable. He is very comfortable with a president who knows the limits of the feasible, even for a superpower. But I can't discern an overachieving philosophy that will guide those who wish to follow his hero's footsteps. Conservatives have fashioned a credible philosophy around Liberty - which justifies a belief in small government, looser regulation, lower taxation, it is also (at a stretch) used to justify the Iraq invasion. It is most exposed on issues of personal morality. Progressives (or Liberals or whatever) don't seem to me to have a comprehensive set of beliefs - presumably it could be fashioned around Equality - though US policy in regard to Healthcare, Infrastructure and International Co-operation definitely needs some work. I don't get that some this book.
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