Ask Not: The Inauguration of John F. Kennedy and the Speech that Changed America
- Book Review,
by Thurston Clarke
From Publishers Weekly
Ever since the success of Garry Wills's Lincoln at Gettysburg, various authors have tried, with varying degrees of success, to create similar books focusing on the personalities, events and politics surrounding great rhetorical moments. One of the more valuable such efforts is this new study of JFK's inauguration and his memorable "Ask not what your country can do for you" speech. Clarke (Pearl Harbor Ghosts; Lost Hero) offers an excellent reconstruction of the details of that frigid, snow-encrusted day in January 1961—and the many busy days before, when Kennedy and such advisers as Ted Sorenson and John Kenneth Galbraith joined words that still resonate in our national memory. Contesting accepted wisdom that gives Sorenson the bulk of the credit for the address, Clarke—through assiduous sleuthing—documents Kennedy's primary authorship of the speech considered by many to be his greatest public utterance. One quibble: for all the value of tracking numerous drafts of the inaugural remarks back to JFK's original dictation, handwritten draft and on-the-spot changes from the podium, following all these minuscule revisions sometimes makes for a blizzard of detail only the most devoted Kennedy fan will want to negotiate. Nevertheless, Clarke clearly breaks new ground, creating a valuable book worth making room for on the crowded Kennedy shelf. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Bookmarks Magazine
Clarke has two purposes in Ask Not: to examine the Kennedy Inauguration in precise detail and to determine J.F.K.’s role in writing the speech. Clarke uses newly discovered primary source material to make his case for the ex-President’s authorship over speechwriter Ted Sorenson. Critics disagree about the efficacy of his argument, but in the end, it veers in his favor. Does this event deserve the intense scrutiny of an entire book? The Washington Post calls Ask Not padded (how much, really, do you want to read about Jackie’s dresses?); The San Francisco Chronicle relishes the personalities and small details that set the stage for Camelot.Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.
From AudioFile
This affectionate work of scholarship opens a window on a magical week in January 1961, when a stylish, manipulative president-elect mingled with actors, writers, diplomats, and mistresses, all while working on the "spare and elegant prose" that would become one of the most famous addresses in American history. Thurston Clarke's meticulous research uncovers many fascinating nuggets, including the debunking of the popular myth that Ted Sorenson was the primary author of the speech. Read with just the right sense of nobility by Edward Herrmann, this audiobook offers something the print version can't--a recording of the actual JFK speech interspersed with a play-by-play commentary. R.W.S. 2005 Audie Award Finalist © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
From Booklist
John F. Kennedy's inaugural address, when he intoned that Americans "ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country," is considered one of the most powerful and memorable speeches of twentieth-century American politics. Delivered in 1961, when the nation was fearful of war and only beginning to acknowledge troubling domestic issues, the speech implored Americans to adopt a different attitude toward government. Clarke chronicles the week leading up to the speech and the inauguration. As for the debate about whether Kennedy or his speechwriter Ted Sorenson wrote the speech, Clarke asserts that Kennedy had the time and the talent to have penned the speech. Clarke explores Kennedy's views on history, his style of speaking and speechwriting, and the personal and political tensions--from Kennedy's vanity and marital strains to his cranky relationship with his vice-president--that drove him to want to craft a speech that would set the tone for his administration of vigor and optimism. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"JFK's inaugural has gotten the book it deserves . . . Anyone who wants to understand why this president changed all of our lives need only open these pages to see him during his finest, most captivating and memorable moments." -Strobe Talbott
"Clarke's meticulous investigation of Kennedy's inaugural address . . . stirs us again with the eloquence of Kennedy's oratory, and deepens our understanding of its place in history."
-Sally Bedell Smith, author of Grace and Power: The Private World of the Kennedy White House
“Thurston Clarke has taken a brief, beautiful speech and recreated an extraordinary moment in time. He understands the power of words, the way they can animate an age and move the world.”—Evan Thomas, co-author of The Wise Men, author of John Paul Jones
Book Description
A close-up on one of American history's most magical events, JFK's inaugural week, and the creation of the speech that inspired a generation and brought hope to a nation
"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." On the January morning when John F. Kennedy assumed the presidency and stood to speak those words, America was divided, its citizens torn by fears of war. Kennedy's speech-called the finest since Lincoln at Gettysburg and the most memorable of any twentieth-century American politician-did more than reassure: it changed lives, marking the start of a brief, optimistic era of struggle against "tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself."
Ask Not is a beautifully detailed account of the week leading up to the inaugural which stands as one of the most moving spectacles in the history of American politics. At the heart of the narrative is Kennedy's quest to create a speech that would distill American dreams and empower a new generation. Thurston Clarke's portrait of JFK during what intimates called his happiest days is balanced, revealing the President at his most dazzlingly charismatic-and cunningly pragmatic. As the snow covers Washington in a blanket of white, as statesmen and celebrities arrive for candlelit festivities, the perfectionist Kennedy pushes himself to the limit, to find the words that would capture what he most truly believed and which would far outlast his own life. For everyone who seeks to understand the fascination with all things Kennedy, the answer can be found in Ask Not.
About the Author
Thurston Clarke has written nine books of fiction and nonfiction, including Pearl Harbor Ghosts and California Fault, a New York Times notable book. His articles have been published in Vanity Fair, Glamour, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. He lives in Willsboro, New York, with his wife and three daughters.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
From Ask Not:
We saw, in black and white, a cloudless sky, sharp light, and air so cold it turned Kennedy's breath into white clouds. When he said, "Let the word go forth from this time and place . . . " it appeared that each word he spoke really was going forth into the exhilarating air that everyone in the nation was breathing that day.
We saw a Currier and Ives tableau, wintry and patriotic. Wind ruffled the festive bunting and the marble façade of the Capitol gleamed. Sunlight bounced off snowbanks and spectators shielded their eyes. Rows of dignitaries filled the platform. The men wore dark overcoats and top hats, outfits for tycoons and statesmen. No one imagined that Rose Kennedy was fuming over her row-end seat, or that Eleanor Roosevelt had refused her place of honor because she could not bear being close to Kennedy's father, or that there was so much bad blood between the dignitaries on this platform that if grudges had weight, the entire contraption would have crashed to the ground.
Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon sat in a semicircle of armchairs. The four men's wives-all former and future First Ladies-sat behind them in the first row on either side of the podium. A faint smile remained frozen on Jackie Kennedy's face, as if she was party to some
delicious secret.
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