The Best and the Brightest

Work

by David Halberstam · 1972

David Halberstam’s 1972 nonfiction book examines the origins of the Vietnam War and the foreign-policy decisions made by the academics, intellectuals, and officials recruited into President John F. Kennedy’s administration. It argues that the confidence and assumptions of these influential policymakers contributed to the escalation and failure of U.S. policy in Vietnam.