Death of an amanuensis

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by: Voyageur

I was 15 years old when John F. Kennedy gave the stirring call that summoned a generation to national service: Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”

The man who very probably wrote those words, long-time Kennedy speechwriter Ted Sorensen, died Sunday. You can read more about him at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T…

Faithful to the speechwriter’s/publicist’s code, Sorensen insisted that Kennedy himself wrote those words. Frankly, I doubt it – Kennedy’s writing skills seemed mostly limited to writing checks. Sorensen was undoubtedly the principal author of the 1955 “Profiles in Courage,” another book that stirred my youth and one still in use in college campuses today. It won a Pulitzer Prize for Kennedy, who acknowledged Sorensen as a research assistant in his forward. In fact, Kennedy probably did a fair amount of editing and writing on the book. But scholars who have analyzed it regard the bulk of the writing as displaying Sorensen’s style, not that of the president.

Of course, Profiles in Courage wasn’t the only book that was influential in this era. In 1960, Barry Goldwater’s “Conscience of a Conservative” was published. It is generally believed to have been ghost-written by L. Brent Bozell, brother-in-law of the late William F. Buckley Jr. Having served as Goldwater’s speechwriter in the 1950s, Bozell – who died in 1997 – was quite familiar with the senator’s political philosophy.

Goldwater really did believe in individual freedom, unlike the Tea Party of today whose champions – like Ken Buck – want to free giant corporations from public oversight while inserting the bayonet of government into our most private decisions, such as our sexual partners or reproductive choices. As he aged, Goldwater’s libertarian tendencies led him to champion gays in the military and other instances of fair treatment for gays, reproductive freedom for women, and oppose efforts to impose a single religious viewpoint on American life.

So now, the real authors of the most influential political books of the post World War II era, Sorensen and Bozell, have joined the putative authors of those books, Kennedy and Goldwater, in whatever heavenly reward awaits the ink-stained wretches of this world. I invite Polsters of whatever persuasion to recall those portions of Profiles in Courage or Conscience of a Conservative – or speeches of Kennedy or Goldwater – that stirred your youth and drew you into the great game of American politics.

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15 thoughts on “Death of an amanuensis”

Libertad says:

November 2, 2010 at 2:16 am

It’s been more then half a decade in the making … these warped policies that have hurt the US Economy, denied American’s their just freedoms and devalued your American citizenship.

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1. Wong21fr says:
  
  November 2, 2010 at 2:18 am
  
  it just keeps on truckin’
  
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  1. Libertad says:
    
    November 2, 2010 at 7:29 am
    
    and be accused of hijackin’, but Reagan – Wynton Hall and Robert Lindsey should have been included.
    
    Voy needs to recognize that no one under 50 really remembers Goldwater beyond his AZ reputation. When Barry went out today’s 50 year olds were but 22 or 23 living under Jimmy Carter.
    
    As for Kennedy, well today’s 50 year old was 4 when The President was assassinated — The President that was a tax cutter I might ad.
    
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    1. parsingreality says:
      
      November 2, 2010 at 3:12 pm
      
      Or, have you already forgotten? Or, just refuse to acknowledge?
      
      Glad to see you can actually do simple age related math. Not so sure about your Nutcase In Arms BJ.
      
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    2. Voyageur says:
      
      November 2, 2010 at 5:46 pm
      
      It’s about the death of one of America’
      
      s finest speechwriters. Go read lady Gaga if you want, but quit jackin my thread.
      
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2. Voyageur says:
  
  November 2, 2010 at 2:18 am
  
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  1. Sir Robin says:
    
    November 2, 2010 at 2:26 am
    
    The Little Fuck (there’s eloquence for ya) has no conscience, no soul, no grace and no mind. Sounds like a perfect candidate for “The Hole”.
    
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3. parsingreality says:
  
  November 2, 2010 at 4:19 am
  
  What is that?
  
  Oh, it’s your stupidity bubbling over again.
  
  Stop the threadjacking.
  
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Sir Robin says:

November 2, 2010 at 2:24 am

I was 9 years old when Kennedy visited northern WI and the family I was living with at the time loaded the car and drove 80 miles to see him and Jacqueline. My sister Sherrie wouldn’t wash her hands for a week because she shook his hand.

My nickname in the family was Little John because I couldn’t say my r’s well, and sounded Bostonian. I took great pride in that, but it set back my elocution by years!

On the day Kennedy was assassinated, I was attending Catholic school, which let us out on that Friday afternoon to go home early. Main Street was two blocks long, and I can picture it today as clearly as that day nearly 50 years ago. Around the corner came a tow truck, and behind it where the car would ordinarily be found, was the body of a 665-pound Black Bear shot the day before. (There is a discepancy in the record here: http://www.roadsideamerica.com… – but a memory of a young boy cannot be challenged…it was burned into my mind). To be walking home because of the assassination of a President, and to see what was at the time a world record Black Bear ….dead, was a truly mythical moment and started me not only into the world of politics, but myth, religion and magic too.

I read Profiles in Courage a long time ago. What strikes me most about the Kennedy’s was their dedication to public service, and their eloquence.

Bobbie was arguably more eloquent that Jack. What a family.

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RedGreen says:

November 2, 2010 at 3:01 am

The New York Times misspelled Sorensen’s name hundreds of times throughout his career, so I guess you’re in good company …

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1. Voyageur says:
  
  November 2, 2010 at 3:10 am
  
  tho apparently I can’t fix the son in the poll.
  
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  1. RedGreen says:
    
    November 2, 2010 at 9:40 am
    
    I’m talking about. You’re in good company, Voyageur!
    
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Sir Robin says:

November 2, 2010 at 4:03 am

I’ve never seen it before! amanuensis

Definition of AMANUENSIS:

: one employed to write from dictation or to copy manuscript

Thanks V, for introducing me to this wonderful word.

According to the etymalogical dictionary

(http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=AMANUENSIS&searchmode=none)

it means, “one who takes dictation,” 1610s, from L. amanuensis, from servus a manu “secretary,” lit. “servant from the hand,” from a “from” + manu, ablative of manus “hand” (see manual).

So, which is it? Is Sorenson dictating or participating in amanuensis?

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1. Voyageur says:
  
  November 2, 2010 at 5:49 pm
  
  and often used for speechwriters, ghost writers, etc. Like a lot of words, it has a more expansive meaning as a metaphor than its literal meaning. Ideally, the amanuensis/speechwriter takes the thoughts, perhaps not fully formed, of the subject and translates them into print.
  
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2. botw says:
  
  November 2, 2010 at 6:35 pm
  
  Amanuesis is a great word.
  
  I wonder if “muse” wouldn’t be equally good here.
  
  2. muse
  
  a. A guiding spirit.
  
  b. A source of inspiration.
  
  c. A poet.
  
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