WHO SAID ask what you can do for your country?

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The seventeen most inspiring words in 20th century American history were spoken by John F. Kennedy, around mid-day, on January 20, 1961, in Washington, D.C. The occasion was his presidential inauguration, and came as he was concluding his inaugural address. He had just declared that the torch had been passed to a new generation of Americans – “born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage” – and pledged to “pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” Soon after, he spoke the seventeen words:  

And so, my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.

Those words were positively electrifying. No president had ever challenged citizens, in peacetime, to sacrifice or commit to a larger vision. With that single sentence, Kennedy inspired people to new possibilities. He raised their expectations of themselves, and of their nation. In response, some joined the Peace Corps, others the Green Berets; thousands flocked to Washington to be part of the “New Frontier.” Students, thinking ahead to government service, went to law school or into programs with social benefit. All across the country, Kennedy’s words changed lives. “It was a special time,” a Senator remembered years later. “Lord, I’ve never had such a feeling before or since then. It was marvelous; without living it, you can’t express it. It gave the country a lift; it gave the world a lift. People cried in the dusty streets of Africa when he died.” All, really, because of seventeen simple words of inspiration.

Autograph Quotation Signed, as president, being the “Ask not” quote from his inaugural address, 1 page, quarto, The White House, Washington, no date. Of the greatest rarity. From the estate of General Maxwell Taylor.

Used with the permission of Shapell legacy partnership.

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By Daniel Bates
Updated: 10:17 AEDT, 2 November 2011

It became one of the most famous political speeches in history.

But according to a new book, John F Kennedy stole what was to become the best-known quote of his 1961 inaugural address – from his old headmaster.

He enraged his former classmates by plagiarising the line 'ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country', which they had heard 'time and time again' in a similar form at school.

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Making history: John F Kennedy delivers his inauguration address in January 1961. The speech contained the immortal couplet 'Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country', but a new book claims the president cribbed the phrase from his former headmaster

Grandstanding: A book claims the line originally came from George St John, left, one of the President's former headmasters at the Choate School in Connecticut

And while his presidential rival Richard Nixon became infamous for his dirty tricks, the book claims Kennedy was not above playing some of his own.

In the pivotal televised debate of the 1960 U.S. election, Kennedy demanded a ban on candidates wearing make-up – then applied some anyway.

It meant he appeared tanned and natural, while Nixon, his Republican opponent, looked haggard and sweaty, almost derailing his campaign.

U.S. author Chris Matthews makes the claims in Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero. He unearthed notes written by George St John, the President’s former headmaster at Choate School in Connecticut, which suggest he had been aware of the 'ask not' line for many years.

The papers quote a Harvard College dean's refrain: 'As has often been said, the youth who loves his Alma Mater will always ask not "what can she do for me?" but "what can I do for her?"'

The book also includes a reply to a questionnaire about JFK's time at the school, sent to his former classmates when he was President. One of the students wrote: 'I boil every time I read or hear the "Ask not... etc" exhortation as being original with Jack.

'Time and time again we all heard [the headmaster] say that to the whole Choate family.'

The speech, delivered at his inauguration on Capitol Hill on January  20, 1961, was not, it seems, the  first time Kennedy had resorted to underhand tactics.

The book claims he gave himself an unfair advantage when he squared off against Nixon in the first of four televised 'Great Debates' on September 26, 1960, the first time such an event had taken place in America.

While Kennedy was charismatic and seemed at ease, Nixon appeared shifty and blended into the background because of his grey suit.

But according to Mr Matthews, Kennedy had a helping hand. His camp had insisted there was a ban on make-up – but then did not follow their own rules. Nixon’s did, with disastrous consequences.

And when his sweating started to become apparent and his staff secretly turned down the thermostat in the studio, Kennedy’s team quietly put it back up.

It meant for the 70million viewers watching at home – for whom it was the first chance to see both candidates – the contrast was striking.

History tells us that Kennedy won the debate, but some studies have found that those who heard the debate on the radio actually preferred Nixon.

However, appearance triumphed over substance and Kennedy won the election. He went on to serve as president until 1963, when he was assassinated.

Nixon had to wait until 1969 to enter the White House. He remained President until 1974, when he was forced to resign over the Watergate scandal.

The extraordinary revelation is sure to raise eyebrows among historians when Matthews' book is published this week.

The 'Ask not...' speech has long been thought to have written with the input of Kennedy's poetic speechwriter Theodore C Sorensen.

Other sources: Kennedy speechwriter Theodore C Sorensen credited the rousing call to arms of Abraham Lincoln (left) and Winston Churchill (right) as inspiration for JFK's inaugural address

Revelations: Chris Matthews' latest book Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero is published this week

Sorensen, who died last year, helped idealise and immortalise the president's tragically brief administration.

He was best known for working with Kennedy on passages of soaring rhetoric, including the 1961 inaugural address, which also proclaimed that 'the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans'.

But who wrote what has always been blurred - political historians say that Kennedy and Sorensen were so inextricably linked that perhaps only they knew who scripted what parts of the speeches.

And Mr Sorensen, an adoring follower of Kennedy, never took credit for the president's timeless phrases - saying that it was a totally collaborative effort.

What is certain is that of the many speeches Sorensen helped compose, Kennedy's inaugural address shone the brightest.

Bartlett's Familiar Quotations includes four citations from the speech - about a seventh of the entire address, which built to the unforgettable 'Ask not...' exhortation.

Much of the roughly 14-minute speech - the fourth-shortest inaugural address ever, but in the view of many experts rivalled only by Abraham Lincoln's - was marked by similar sparkling phrase-making.

Mr Sorensen said he drew inspiration for the speech from the Bible, from Abraham Lincoln - and from the rousing wartime speeches of British prime minister Winston Churchill.

Matthews, 65, is a former presidential speechwriter for Jimmy Carter and press secretary for long-time Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tip O'Neill.

Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero, published this week, is his sixth book.