Ted Sorensen
Against several grandee Senators during his unsuccessful confirmation hearing to become Director of the CIA in 1977, I defended Ted Sorensen — one of the few to do so. As a result, I received a lovely letter from his wife Gillian, which I still have, and Ted and I became friends. Years later he volunteered to play a leading role in my 1988 presidential campaign. His great wit was confirmed later. When queried whether he wrote John F. Kennedy's famous inaugural address, he said: "Ask not." With the death of Robert Kennedy, and more recently my colleague Ted Kennedy, Ted Sorensen became my generation's last living link to the Kennedy legacy of public service, and to the ancient republican ideal of citizen participation.
—Gary Hart
Hart is a former U.S. Senator from Colorado