The Best and the Brightest
Encyclopedia
The Best and the Brightest (1972) is an account by journalist David Halberstam
of the origins of the Vietnam War
published by Random House
. The focus of the book is on the foreign policy crafted by the academics and intellectuals who were in John F. Kennedy's administration, and the consequences of those policies in Vietnam.
and Johnson
administrations that led to the war, focusing on a period from 1960 to 1965 but also covering earlier and later years up to the publication year of the book.
Many influential factors are examined in the book:
The book shows that the gradual escalation initially allowed the Johnson Administration to avoid negative publicity and criticism from Congress and avoid a direct war against the Chinese, but it also lessened the likelihood of either victory or withdrawal.
in his work "To Jane: The Invitation" (1822):
Shelley's line may have originated from English bishop and hymn writer Reginald Heber
in his 1811 work, "Hymns. Epiphany":
A still earlier, and more pertinent, use of the phrase is in the letter of Junius
published February 7, 1769, in the Public Advertiser
. There Junius uses it mockingly and ironically in reference to King George III's ministers, whose capacities he had disparaged in his first letter the previous month. In response to Sir William Draper's letter defending one of Junius' targets and attacking their anonymous critics, Junius wrote:
In the introduction to the 1992 edition, Halberstam states that he had used the title in an article for Harper's magazine
, and that Mary McCarthy
criticized him in a book review for incorrectly referencing the line in the hymn. Halberstam claims he had no knowledge of that earlier use of the term. Halberstam also observed regarding the "best and the brightest" phrase, that "...hymn or no, it went into the language, although it is often misused, failing to carry the tone or irony that the original intended." In a 2001 interview, Halberstam claims that the title came from a line in an article he had written about the Kennedy Administration. The phrase referred to President John F. Kennedy's "whiz kids"—leaders of industry and academia brought into the Kennedy administration—whom Halberstam characterized as arrogantly insisting on "brilliant policies that defied common sense" in Vietnam, often against the advice of career U.S. Department of State employees.
----
The Best and the Brightest is also the name of a 1998 Star Trek novel, and the name of a movie starring Neil Patrick Harris
, Bonnie Somerville
, Amy Sedaris
, Kate Mulgrew
, Peter Serafinowicz
, Jenna Stern
, Bridget Regan
, John Hodgman
, and Christopher McDonald
, about the absurd lengths a couple must go to to try to get their daughter into a New York City private kindergarten.
David Halberstam
David Halberstam was an American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and historian, known for his early work on the Vietnam War, his work on politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, and his later sports journalism.-Early life and education:Halberstam...
of the origins of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
published by Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
. The focus of the book is on the foreign policy crafted by the academics and intellectuals who were in John F. Kennedy's administration, and the consequences of those policies in Vietnam.
Summary
Halberstam's book offers a great deal of detail on how the decisions were made in the KennedyJohn F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
administrations that led to the war, focusing on a period from 1960 to 1965 but also covering earlier and later years up to the publication year of the book.
Many influential factors are examined in the book:
- The Democratic party was still haunted by claims that it had 'lost China' to Communists, and it did not want to be said to have lost Vietnam also
- The McCarthy era had rid the government of experts in Vietnam and surrounding Far-East countries
- Early studies called for close to a million U.S. troops to completely defeat the Viet Cong, but it would be impossible to convince Congress or the U.S. public to deploy that many soldiers
- Declarations of war and excessive shows of force, including bombing too close to China or too many U.S. troops, might have triggered the entry of Chinese ground forces into the war, as well as greater Soviet involvement, which might repair the growing Sino-Soviet rift.
- The American military and generals were not prepared for protracted guerilla warfare.
- Some war games showed that a gradual escalation by the United States could be evenly matched by North Vietnam: Every year, 200,000 North Vietnamese came of draft age and potentially could be sent down the Ho Chi Minh TrailHo Chi Minh trailThe Ho Chi Minh trail was a logistical system that ran from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to the Republic of Vietnam through the neighboring kingdoms of Laos and Cambodia...
to replace any losses against the U.S.: the U.S. would be 'fighting the birthrate' - Any show of force by the U.S. in the form of bombing or ground forces would signal the U.S. interest in defending South Vietnam and therefore cause the U.S. greater shame if they were to withdraw
- President Johnson's belief that too much attention given to the war effort would jeopardize his Great SocietyGreat SocietyThe Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States promoted by President Lyndon B. Johnson and fellow Democrats in Congress in the 1960s. Two main goals of the Great Society social reforms were the elimination of poverty and racial injustice...
domestic programs - The effects of strategic bombingStrategic bombingStrategic bombing is a military strategy used in a total war with the goal of defeating an enemy nation-state by destroying its economic ability and public will to wage war rather than destroying its land or naval forces...
: Most people wrongly believed that North Vietnam prized its industrial base so much it would not risk its destruction by U.S. air power and would negotiate peace after experiencing some limited bombing. Others saw that, even in World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, strategic bombing united the victim population against the aggressor and did little to hinder industrial output. - The Domino TheoryDomino theoryThe domino theory was a reason for war during the 1950s to 1980s, promoted at times by the government of the United States, that speculated that if one state in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect...
rationales are mentioned as simplistic. - After placing a few thousand Americans in harm's way, it became politically easier to send hundreds of thousands over with the promise that, with enough numbers, they could protect themselves and that to abandon Vietnam now would mean the earlier investment in money and blood would be thrown away.
The book shows that the gradual escalation initially allowed the Johnson Administration to avoid negative publicity and criticism from Congress and avoid a direct war against the Chinese, but it also lessened the likelihood of either victory or withdrawal.
Origins of the title
The title may have come from a line by Percy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
in his work "To Jane: The Invitation" (1822):
- Best and brightest, come away!
Shelley's line may have originated from English bishop and hymn writer Reginald Heber
Reginald Heber
Reginald Heber was the Church of England's Bishop of Calcutta who is now remembered chiefly as a hymn-writer.-Life:Heber was born at Malpas in Cheshire...
in his 1811 work, "Hymns. Epiphany":
- Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
- Dawn on our darkness, and lend us thine aid.
A still earlier, and more pertinent, use of the phrase is in the letter of Junius
Junius
Junius was the pseudonym of a writer who contributed a series of letters to the Public Advertiser, from 21 January 1769 to 21 January 1772. The signature had been already used, apparently by him, in a letter of 21 November 1768...
published February 7, 1769, in the Public Advertiser
Public Advertiser
The Public Advertiser was a London newspaper in the 18th century.The Public Advertiser was originally known as the London Daily Post and General Advertiser, then simply the General Advertiser consisting more or less exclusively of adverts. It was taken over by its printer, Henry Woodfall, and...
. There Junius uses it mockingly and ironically in reference to King George III's ministers, whose capacities he had disparaged in his first letter the previous month. In response to Sir William Draper's letter defending one of Junius' targets and attacking their anonymous critics, Junius wrote:
To have supported your assertion, you should have proved that the present ministry are unquestionably the best and brightest characters of the kingdom; and that, if the affections of the colonies have been alienated, if Corsica has been shamefully abandoned, if commerce languishes, if public credit is threatened with a new debt, and your own Manilla ransom most dishonourably given up, it has all been owing to the malice of political writers, who will not suffer the best and brightest characters (meaning still the present ministry) to take a single right step, for the honour or interest of the nation.
In the introduction to the 1992 edition, Halberstam states that he had used the title in an article for Harper's magazine
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
, and that Mary McCarthy
Mary McCarthy (author)
Mary Therese McCarthy was an American author, critic and political activist.- Early life :Born in Seattle, Washington, to Roy Winfield McCarthy and his wife, the former Therese Preston, McCarthy was orphaned at the age of six when both her parents died in the great flu epidemic of 1918...
criticized him in a book review for incorrectly referencing the line in the hymn. Halberstam claims he had no knowledge of that earlier use of the term. Halberstam also observed regarding the "best and the brightest" phrase, that "...hymn or no, it went into the language, although it is often misused, failing to carry the tone or irony that the original intended." In a 2001 interview, Halberstam claims that the title came from a line in an article he had written about the Kennedy Administration. The phrase referred to President John F. Kennedy's "whiz kids"—leaders of industry and academia brought into the Kennedy administration—whom Halberstam characterized as arrogantly insisting on "brilliant policies that defied common sense" in Vietnam, often against the advice of career U.S. Department of State employees.
Presidents
- Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
(FDR) - Harry Truman
- Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
- John F. KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
(JFK) - Lyndon Johnson (LBJ)
- Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
Cabinet
- Dean RuskDean RuskDavid Dean Rusk was the United States Secretary of State from 1961 to 1969 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Rusk is the second-longest serving U.S...
– Secretary of State - Robert McNamaraRobert McNamaraRobert Strange McNamara was an American business executive and the eighth Secretary of Defense, serving under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968, during which time he played a large role in escalating the United States involvement in the Vietnam War...
– Secretary of Defense - Clark CliffordClark CliffordClark McAdams Clifford was an American lawyer who served United States Presidents Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter, serving as United States Secretary of Defense for Johnson....
– Secretary of Defense - Dean AchesonDean AchesonDean Gooderham Acheson was an American statesman and lawyer. As United States Secretary of State in the administration of President Harry S. Truman from 1949 to 1953, he played a central role in defining American foreign policy during the Cold War...
– Secretary of State under Harry Truman - John Foster DullesJohn Foster DullesJohn Foster Dulles served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive stance against communism throughout the world...
– Secretary of State under Dwight Eisenhower
Advisors
- John Kenneth GalbraithJohn Kenneth GalbraithJohn Kenneth "Ken" Galbraith , OC was a Canadian-American economist. He was a Keynesian and an institutionalist, a leading proponent of 20th-century American liberalism...
- George Ball – Undersecretary of State
- Chester BowlesChester BowlesChester Bliss Bowles was a liberal Democratic American diplomat and politician from Connecticut.-Biography:...
– Undersecretary of State for part of 1961 - McGeorge BundyMcGeorge BundyMcGeorge "Mac" Bundy was United States National Security Advisor to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson from 1961 through 1966, and president of the Ford Foundation from 1966 through 1979...
– Special Assistant for National Security Affairs - Nicholas KatzenbachNicholas KatzenbachNicholas deBelleville Katzenbach is an American lawyer who served as United States Attorney General during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration.-Early life:...
– Undersecretary of State - Walt Whitman RostowWalt Whitman RostowWalt Whitman Rostow was a United States economist and political theorist who served as Special Assistant for National Security Affairs to U.S. President Lyndon B...
– deputy to McGeorge Bundy - Maxwell Taylor – military advisor to JFK
- John Theodore McNaughtonJohn McNaughton (government official)John Theodore McNaughton born in Pekin, Illinois was United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs and Robert S. McNamara's closest advisor...
– Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs - William BundyWilliam BundyWilliam Putnam "Bill" Bundy was a member of the CIA and foreign affairs advisor to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He had a key role in planning the Vietnam War. After leaving government service he became a historian.-Early years:Raised in Boston, Massachusetts he came from a...
– foreign affairs advisor to JFK and LBJ
Military
- General Maxwell Taylor – Consultant to the President and Chairman of the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
- Paul D. HarkinsPaul D. HarkinsPaul Donal Harkins was Deputy Chief of Staff during World War II to George S. Patton Jr. and later became a U.S. Army General and the first Military Assistance Command, Vietnam commander from 1962 to 1964.-Early life:...
- commander of Military Assistance Command, VietnamMilitary Assistance Command, VietnamThe U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, MACV, , was the United States' unified command structure for all of its military forces in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.-History:...
(MACV) - Westmoreland's predecessor - William WestmorelandWilliam WestmorelandWilliam Childs Westmoreland was a United States Army General, who commanded US military operations in the Vietnam War at its peak , during the Tet Offensive. He adopted a strategy of attrition against the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam and the North Vietnamese Army. He later served as...
– deputy commander of Military Assistance Command, VietnamMilitary Assistance Command, VietnamThe U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, MACV, , was the United States' unified command structure for all of its military forces in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.-History:...
(MACV) - Matthew RidgwayMatthew RidgwayMatthew Bunker Ridgway was a United States Army General. He held several major commands and was most famous for resurrecting the United Nations war effort during the Korean War. Several historians have credited Ridgway for turning around the war in favor of the UN side...
– Chief of Staff - Earle WheelerEarle WheelerEarle Gilmore "Bus" Wheeler, was a United States Army General who served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army and then as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , holding the latter position during the Vietnam War.-Biography:Earle Gilmore Wheeler was born on January 13, 1908 in Washington,...
– Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - Edward G. Lansdale – Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Operations
- John Paul VannJohn Paul VannJohn Paul Vann was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, later retired, who became well known for his role in the Vietnam War.-Early life:...
– Army advisor to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
Others
- Barry GoldwaterBarry GoldwaterBarry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
– U.S. Senator from Arizona, Republican contender for president in 1964 - W. Averell HarrimanW. Averell HarrimanWilliam Averell Harriman was an American Democratic Party politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was the son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman. He served as Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman and later as the 48th Governor of New York...
– Ambassador, Under Secretary of State - Roger HilsmanRoger HilsmanRoger Hilsman is an author and political scientist. He served as an American soldier in Merrill's Marauders and then the Office of Strategic Services in China-Burma-India Theater of World War II during World War II and as an aide and adviser to President John F. Kennedy...
– Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs - Hubert HumphreyHubert HumphreyHubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. , served under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the 38th Vice President of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and...
– Vice president to LBJ - Robert Kennedy - John F. Kennedy's 1960 campaign manager, Attorney General [1961-1964], U.S. Senator from New York [1964-1968]
- Joseph McCarthyJoseph McCarthyJoseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
- U.S. Senator from Wisconsin - Frederick E. Nolting, Jr. – Ambassador
- Eugene Rostow – Under Secretary for Political Affairs (Dept. of State)
- Arthur Schlesinger Jr – Special Assistant to the President in the Kennedy administration
- Adlai Stevenson – Ambassador to the United Nations [1961-1965]
The Soviets
- Nikita KhrushchevNikita KhrushchevNikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
- Alexei Kosygin
----
The Best and the Brightest is also the name of a 1998 Star Trek novel, and the name of a movie starring Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold...
, Bonnie Somerville
Bonnie Somerville
Bonnie Somerville is an American actress and singer. As an actress, she has had roles in a number of movies and television series, most notably NYPD Blue, Grosse Pointe, Friends, The O.C. and Cashmere Mafia....
, Amy Sedaris
Amy Sedaris
Amy Louise Sedaris is an American actress, author, and comedian. She is known for playing the character Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central television series Strangers with Candy. Sedaris regularly collaborates with her older brother, humorist and author David Sedaris...
, Kate Mulgrew
Kate Mulgrew
Katherine Kiernan Maria "Kate" Mulgrew is an American actress, most noted for her roles on Star Trek: Voyager as Captain Kathryn Janeway and Ryan's Hope as Mary Ryan...
, Peter Serafinowicz
Peter Serafinowicz
Peter Szymon Serafinowicz is an English actor, comedian, writer, composer, voice artist and occasional director.-Early life:Serafinowicz was born in Liverpool, England. He attended Our Lady of the Assumption Roman Catholic Primary School and St Francis Xavier Secondary School...
, Jenna Stern
Jenna Stern
Jenna Louise Stern is an American actress.Member of an artist family, Stern is the daughter of actor/producer Tom Stern and Academy award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning actress Samantha Eggar. Her brother, Nicolas Stern, is a producer for film and television...
, Bridget Regan
Bridget Regan
Bridget Catherine Regan is an American film, television and theater actress, best known for her portrayal of Kahlan Amnell in the television series Legend of the Seeker.-Career:...
, John Hodgman
John Hodgman
John Kellogg Hodgman is an American author, actor, and humorist. In addition to his published written works, such as The Areas of My Expertise, More Information Than You Require, and That Is All, he is known for his personification of a PC in contrast to Justin Long's personification of a Mac in...
, and Christopher McDonald
Christopher McDonald
Christopher McDonald is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Shooter McGavin in Happy Gilmore, Tappy Tibbons in Requiem for a Dream, and Mel Allen in the HBO film 61*.-Personal life:...
, about the absurd lengths a couple must go to to try to get their daughter into a New York City private kindergarten.