During the 1960 campaign , Schlesinger supported Kennedy , causing much consternation to Stevenson loyalists . At the time , however , Kennedy was an active candidate while Stevenson refused to run unless he was drafted at the convention . After Kennedy won the nomination , Schlesinger helped the campaign as a ( sometime ) speechwriter , speaker , and member of the ADA . He also wrote the book '' Kennedy or Nixon : Does It Make Any Difference ? '' in which he lauded Kennedy 's abilities and scorned Vice President Richard M. Nixon as having " no ideas , only methods ... . He cares about winning . " After the election , the president-elect offered Schlesinger an ambassadorship and Assistant Secretary of State for Cultural Relations before Robert Kennedy proposed for Schlesinger to serve as a " sort of roving reporter and troubleshooter . " Schlesinger quickly accepted , and on January 30 , 1961 , he resigned from Harvard and was appointed Special Assistant to the President . He worked primarily on Latin American affairs and as a speechwriter during his tenure in the White House
the convention
1960 Democratic National Convention
Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.