Research Catalog

Sounding the trumpet : the making of John F. Kennedy's inaugural address / Richard J. Tofel.

Title
Sounding the trumpet : the making of John F. Kennedy's inaugural address / Richard J. Tofel.
Author
Tofel, Richard J., 1957-
Publication
Chicago : Ivan R. Dee, c2005.

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+discTextRequest in advance J82.D91 T64 2005 +discOff-site

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Details

Description
viii, 214 p. : ill.; 24 cm. +
Summary
  • It was a grand speech and the keynote for a generation of Americans. One observer called it the finest American political document in more than forty years. Another thought it was the best expression of the American spirit since Woodrow Wilson, perhaps since Emerson. Approaching a half century after its delivery, historians agree that in at least one way John F. Kennedy ranks with Jefferson, Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt in the quality of his inaugural address. In Sounding the Trumpet, Richard J. Tofel tells the full story of this mythic moment in American history. He draws on original research materials in the Kennedy Library and elsewhere, as well as exclusive interviews. Unlike earlier treatments of the subject, these include extensive and candid conversations with Theodore Sorensen, Kennedy's aide and chief speechwriter, who has never before discussed in full how the speech was composed. Sounding the Trumpet thus reveals many unknown details about this landmark speech -- why JFK's famous handwritten "draft" is not a draft at all; what contributions came from Adlai Stevenson; how Kennedy rejected a last-minute addition about civil rights; and, most important, how much of the speech Kennedy wrote himself. Mr. Tofel sets the political scene for Kennedy's unaugural, tells the story of the day in detail, and follows closely the writing of the speech, its delivery, and its reception then and later. He plumbs its many sources and influences, from Shakespeare to John Kenneth Galbraith, and explains the motives behind Kennedy's phrases. Appendices include never-before-published drafts and transcriptions of the address. In all, Sounding the Trumpet is not only a fascinating story but the definitive history of one of the great speeches in American history. - Jacket flap.
  • Accompanying DVD contains John F. Kennedy's swearing-in and inaugural address, unedited.
Subject
  • Kennedy, John F. 1917-1963 > Inauguration, 1961
  • 1961-1963
  • Presidents > United States > Inaugural addresses
  • United States > Politics and government > 1961-1963
Genre/Form
DVD-Video discs.
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-192) and index.
System Details (note)
  • System requirements for accompanying DVD: PowerDVD or similar media player ; DVD-ROM drive.
Processing Action (note)
  • committed to retain
Contents
Part one : January 20 -- Part two : The making of the Inaugural address, 1961. When -- Why -- How -- Part three : After -- Appendices. The surviving excerpts from the first draft of Kennedy's inaugural address -- The earliest surviving draft of the address : the cut-down version of the TCS draft, on or before January 10, 1961 -- Kennedy's dictation, January 10, 1961 -- The penultimate draft of the address, January 17, 1961 -- President Kennedy's inaugural address as delivered, January 20, 1961 -- Kennedy's "Memorabilia" version of the address, January 17, 1961 -- Theodore Sorensen's draft inaugural parody, January 17, 1962.
ISBN
1566636108 (cloth : alk. paper)
LCCN
^^2005003804
OCLC
  • 57731080
  • SCSB-11094326
Owning Institutions
Harvard Library