Forbes.com
Chris Matthews reveals in his new book about President John F. Kennedy that Kennedy borrowed the “Ask not what your country can do for you…” quote from his prep school headmaster. Matthews got the binder with the original quote from the school’s archivist. “Nobody ever had it before,” he tells Jeff Bercovici. “It’s journalism: Go to the place and you’ll get the story. Don’t think you’re going to get it on the phone. You’re not going to get it from email. The best stories, you have to go to the spot, and then you’ll have an amazing advantage over people who don’t go there.” Bercovici apparently offended Matthews by asking if he’s had help writing his books. “I would never let anybody write something for me,” he says. “Why do you think I’m like that? It’s amazing to me that you think I’m some lightweight, glib bullshit artist that has somebody do his work for him. The writing is the hard part, the composition.”
Correction: The original version of this quote misstated Kennedy’s famous line.
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