The poetry and passion of JFK

Americans, sometimes divided over John F Kennedy's political legacy, have little disagreement about the music and poetry of the murdered president's soaring rhetoric.

Kennedy, who died a half-century ago this month, is on a pedestal all his own among US presidents for his oft-quoted oratory. Passages from his speeches remain etched in the consciousness of a nation still moved by the majesty of his words.

His gift was evident at his January 20 1961 inauguration when he issued his inspirational call to action that continues to be invoked by Americans to this day.

"Now the trumpet summons us again," the president intoned, urging his countrymen to take up arms in "a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself." In the speech's best-known passage Kennedy proclaimed: "And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

Kennedy's most rousing speeches seemed to be delivered at pivotal moments.

One such occasion was in 1961, when he made his call to the nation to win the space race four years after the Soviets had launched their Sputnik satellite into orbit in 1957.

"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth," the defiant president said in a speech remembered most for its ability to capture the nation's attention and inspire action.

On June 10 1963, Kennedy made a speech at American University in Washington, eight months after the Cuban missile crisis, in which he announced nuclear weapons talks with the Soviet Union.

"No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings," he said.

Two weeks later, on June 26 1963, he proclaimed: "Ich bin ein Berliner" on the steps of Berlin's Rudolph Wilde Platz, offering his nation's support to the people of the divided German city.

Like no other American president, other than Abraham Lincoln, historians say, Kennedy's words stirred the soul and created the template for inspirational political oratory.

Blessed with charm and good looks, Kennedy had a knack for alliteration and a feel for a felicitous turn of phrase.

The young president's rhetoric has often been imitated by his successors but never equalled.

Students of Kennedy's life and legacy say that Kennedy had his chief speech writer, Ted Sorensen, to thank for his eloquence. Sorensen was his "closest adviser, with the exception of the president's brother," said Adam Frankel, a former speech writer for President Barack Obama.

Always conscious of his image, Kennedy worked tirelessly on smoothing the hard Boston edges from his diction, and studied recordings of Churchill for fine points of delivery.

Kennedy would not have been so pleased, however, if he had known that some believe that his speeches, and not his policies, are among his most significant achievements.