In January 1953, freshman senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts hired a 24-year-old from Nebraska as his Number Two legislative assistant. Despite the differences in their backgrounds, in the 11 years that followed, Ted Sorensen became known as Kennedy's intellectual blood bank, top policy aide, and alter ego. Offering an insider's account, Sorenson reflects on the TV debates with Nixon, election night at Hyannis Port, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. With candor and objectivity, Sorenson's 1965 biography reveals Kennedy's errors on the Bay of Pigs, and charts the evolution of JFK's beliefs on civil rights and arms control.