The Best and the Brightest (Hardcover)

Proof positive that the possession of power does not imply the presence of wisdom. The giddy expansiveness of the American spirit which had served us so we'll in our first 200 years clouded our vision to the subtleties of Asia.

What a brilliant writer, I highly recommend this book to any student of the Vietnam War. This man by the power of the pen shows us just how flawed the military was in its thinking, and how so wrong they were but were too ignorant to change.

I finally got around to reading this classic work, and I was both enthalled and disappointed.

Enthralled by the energy, prescience, and prescription with what's wrong with American foreign policy, a preview of our never ending mistakes of hubris and conviction that as a country we still are the best and the brightest and know what is best for the world.

The parallel with Iraq and Afghanistan today is eerie. Poor Obama, making the same mistakes, coddling the conservatives and the Establishment, oh well.

On the other hand, the books suffers from rambling, free association, and repetiveness. It really needed a better editor and better organization. It flips back and forth from its own past and present with confusing effect. It's portraits have a taint of predisposed bias, a desire to pigeonhole its characters in one dimensional anti-Communist baitin, true enough perhaps, but also suspect.

As a liberal, I suppose, I have always resented our country's penchant for wanting to fix whatever is wrong with the world, but the author's obvious bias against that preconception often gets in the way of the objective reporting he so proudly proclaims. Also, as a study in power run amok, I think Caro's Johnson trilogy (and of course his bio of that New York meglogmaniac, Moses) is far superior in thematic relevance and cogent analysis, to say nothing about the power of literary non fiction and plain powerful language and description.

I think Halberstrom never made up his analytical mind about war and policy(read The Coldest Winter.)

Still in all, as a vivid document of our country's too many mistakes, it will stick with you. Read it for valuable lessons about our past and still more valuable lessons for the future.

Kennedy wasn't so great, after all, and Johnson was only half bad, and so typically American. On the other hand, how bad can anyone be compared to Acheson, Dulles (both of them) Rostow, Bundy, and the rest. I always had wanted to attend Yale and Harvard, but now I think I was better off just going to Brandeis, putting up with John Roche's Vietnam hawkish views and retaining my independent bent of mind.

We have translated our anti-Communist fanatic atitutes for our anti-Terrorist paranoia. A fair trade, I suppose, if you are of a frame of mind that we live in a world of enemies, but this book is a good object lesson that after all we're just not that smart.

A final word. Halberstrom's work is seminal, readable, and bright. Hey, that's the best or close to the best, for all its disorganization.

Even though I voluntarily served in Vietnam, I was sadly ignorant of my purpose, which was basically cannon fodder for the United States' military-industrial complex. My eyes were opened by the incredible waste of money and systematic destruction of a country I witnessed while there. But I remained basically uninformed about the politics that sent me half way round the world. For anyone who still is interested in that story, "The Best and the Brightest" is a must read.

Every American should read The Best and the Brightest because of the alarmingly sharp parallels between the arguments that lead the US to war in Vietnam, and the arguments one reads in contemporary news articles, making the case for escalating the US occupation of Afghanistan. The Best and the Brightest is by far the most unsettling book I've read in the last ten years.

Halberstam is one of my favorite authors and I have read many of his books. I just hadn't read this one yet. It is an excellent account of the mistakes that created the disaster that was our involvement in Vietnam. Halberstam covers both the political and military players. He really shows you who these people are and why they acted as they did.

the store! You own Audible! You must know how important this book is, how it shaped American policy in Vietnam (at least Halberstam's reporting did). The book was immortalized by inclusion into Modern Library hardcover. And yet! Some puny 2 hour abridgement on Audible?! "A Bright Shining Lie" got fully read. It's time for this other famous Pulitzer prize winner to get an unabridged reading (by someone other than Scott Brick or Robertson Dean!!)

this book is a national treasure, an honest unflinching look at one of the most one of the most controversial events in u.s. history, the vietnam war. what sets halberstam's book above so many others are the insightful finely wrought portraits of american leaders at the time, ranging from kennedy to lbj to mcnamara and others.

This is a sobering narrative when we debate the war on terrorism today and debate which of the Presidential candidates we want to lead our country over the next four years. The American political system gave extraordinarily broad powers to the head of the executive branch (the POTUS), and the Congress, at least in the Vietnam War era, sat back and appeared ineffectual in its opposition to the war after LBJ "Americanized" it in 1965 and 1966.

The author writes in clear, well organized language, and the events he describes are very well documented. One gets a different point of view (the author's) of the Vietnam War and how it developed under the guidance of "The Best and the Brightest" most who whom were brought into the administration from the inteligencia or academia by President Kennedy; but one gets a clear sense that they lacked much pratical experience, if any, as far as international affairs and conflicts were concerned. His is one way of interpreting the events; I suspect there are others which differ much from his and are probably as well documented. Still, it's a book well worth reading.

Rudy

The author writes in clear, well organized language, and the events he describes are very well documented. One gets a different point of view (the author's) of the Vietnam War and how it developed under the guidance of "The Best and the Brightest" most who whom were brought into the administration from the inteligencia or academia by President Kennedy; but one gets a clear sense that they lacked much pratical experience, if any, as far as international affairs and conflicts were concerned. His is one way of interpreting the events; I suspect there are others which differ much from his and are probably as well documented. Still, it's a book well worth reading.

Rudy

A real classic. A must-read for any serious student of history and management. Only four stars because Halberstam's writing style here (unlike his later work) tended to be a bit verbose, and consequently taxed my attention span.

Other than that, it's a great book.

Very clear documentation of the slippery slope involvement in Vietnam driven by personal pride and self-delusion by the players in Washington. Having lived through the tragedy and having two years of my life consumed in Vietnam this work helps to explain the schizophrenic feeling many of us had at the time. Should be required reading for every student and also for every politician and bureaucrat. We all to often repeat out mistakes out of audacity and arrogance .

Although written 40 years ago it still provides the insights into how we managed to get mired into Vietnam. The book goes into the backgrounds of all involved and how these backgrounds led the country to where it did. I was just in High School during the early 60. and Engineering School in th second half. It is amazing to learn how and who took us to Vietnam.

Hey the store! The excellent author, David Halberstam does not live in New York as your site indicates. HE IS DEAD and has been since 2007. Granted he was negligent in not reporting his death to your author page, but he had a good excuse - HE'S DEAD.

great. shows how the people that supported the Vietnam war agenda even though they were wrong are promote.
And the people who were against the Vietnam war for the correct reasons were bypassed for promotions.

It was very interesting to read how decisions were made by filtering the information to one point of view. How the decisions were made to benefit the individuals not what may have been best for the country.

Halberstam does a thorough analysis of the key players. The sad truth is that the ancient Greek warning against Hubris went unheeded. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to learn about how Washington functions.

Well researched history of how the United States got sucked into the war in Vietnam. Explains how some of the brightest stars from some of the best schools arrogantly believed they were so much smarter than people knowledgeable about Southeast Asia and the French experience there. How Lyndon Johnson's political gamesmanship determined our involvement and how his some of his senior advisers who were against the war went along to get along instead of resigning. Overly detailed and analytic but well worth reading.

The author over describes the prinicipals charactistics. Often repeating them in describing how the government and military led the country into an ever escalating Vietnam war. The book does a good job how government officials made decisions.

The author’s writing style makes this book unreadable. I wanted to read this book because of my interest in war history and the book’s high ratings. But the excessive, cumbersome use of commas, colons, semicolons, dashes and paragraph long sentences are so distracting, that it is totally unreadable. I realize my low rating is a minority opinion. Borrow this book from the library or read an excerpt before you buy it.

A staggering work of journalism. I felt like a fly on the wall of the White House. I also felt an endlessly mounting wave of frustration over these misguided people lying to themselves at the expense of thousands of lives. Lessons: learn from the past, listen to the experts, let go of your pride.

Halberstam peppers this early history of the Vietnam war with exceptionally long diversions into cradle-to-grave biographies of the principals. These can span many tens of pages and seems largely superfluous. The book is about 200 pages too long, but if you enjoy reading about historical documents, biographies of the elite, and the constraints and pressures in high government decision-making, then you will enjoy most of this book.