Politics & Power Quote by Theodore C. Sorensen

Sorensen’s line is political hope dressed up as civic scripture. “Starting to believe in America again” doesn’t describe a measurable condition; it describes a mood he’s trying to manufacture. The genius is in the repetition: “back, back... back.” It turns recovery into a drumbeat, implying both a recent fall and an almost gravitational return to an imagined normal. The sentence doesn’t argue that policy will work; it assumes the audience already feels the bruise of national doubt and offers them the analgesic of destiny.

The subtext is Cold War anxiety translated into moral reassurance. Calling America a “temple of justice” borrows religious architecture to make institutions feel sacred and permanent, not merely political and contested. That’s deliberate: if justice is a temple, criticism starts to look like heresy. “Champion of peace” pulls the same trick on foreign policy, reframing power as virtue. It’s an implicit answer to the era’s unease about nuclear brinkmanship, civil rights conflict, and the credibility gaps that begin to surface when ideals and reality collide.

Contextually, Sorensen is best understood as the lawyer behind a certain Kennedy-era rhetorical style: lofty, rhythmic, courtroom-clean. The intent isn’t to win a debate so much as to restore legitimacy. By placing “greatness” alongside “justice” and “peace,” he fuses national pride with moral obligation, telling Americans they can feel good again, but only by returning to the role he’s assigning them. That’s persuasion as choreography: the nation moves “back” on cue, and the listener gets to feel like history is agreeing.