For Throwback Thursday: in 2009, I had the privilege to meet and speak with Ted Sorensen, one of JFKs whiz kids and his lead speech writer. Mr. Sorenson was heavily involved in the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and had amazing stories to tell over lunch about how they kept the hysteria out of the press. He said, (paraphrasing) when we realized that this was going to be really big and quite dangerous... we called together all the people who needed to be in the White House... but we carefully orchestrated their arrival by both time and building entrance so that no one ever saw a mass of VIPs descending on the White House that might set off a public panic. tensions were so high. People really thought that the Russians were going to attack the USA with the missiles pointed at us in Cuba. We knew we only had about four hours to work before news got out that everyone was meeting at the White House. We had to move very fast. When I saw him, his voice was strong but he was bowed by arthritis and could not stand unaided for more than a minute or two, and he admitted to being nearly blind. But he was as sharp as a tack. I told him that as a child I was annoyed when my cartoon shows were cut into by the news showing emergency sessions at the UN, and asked him if he was responsible for this happening, too. He smiled and laughed, then leaned towards me and whispered behind his hand, Remember duck and cover at school? Let me tell you a state secret-- it wouldnt have helped. Ted died less than a year later at the age of 81. I have attached his Wiki biography which though brief is very informative... Only 35 years old when Kennedy was killed, the event devastated him. He had been asked by JFK to write Kennedys biography during that second term, the one that never happened. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Sorensen
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 00:36:18 +0000
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