Robert Frost was the first poet to speak at a presidential inauguration, reciting "The Gift Outright" from memory when the glare of the sun prohibited him from reading "Dedication," a poem he had prepared expressly for the occasion. The ceremony took place on January 20, 1961. Frost was an American poet who led a very busy life. He worked as a legal clerk and accountant while studying poetry at Harvard University. In 1925, he joined the faculty of Dartmouth College where he remained until his death in 1963 at the age of 80. Besides being a renowned poet, Frost was also well-known for his political activism. He was a member of the Communist Party for almost 30 years starting in 1926 when he joined at the age of 24. In 1960, after John F. Kennedy was nominated for president at the Democratic National Convention, Frost wrote a poem called "Minutes to Midnight" in which he praised the new candidate. This made many people assume that Frost was one of Kennedy's supporters. In fact, he had been asked by Kennedy's brother Senator Edward M. Kennedy to deliver the keynote address at their convention but couldn't because of other obligations. After the inauguration ceremony, it was discovered that Frost had written a bad poem about Kennedy and this caused many critics to question whether or not he should have been allowed to speak at all.