The Best and the Brightest

Journalist David Halberstam traces the origins of the Vietnam War to the academics and intellectuals who shaped foreign policy in John F. Kennedy's administration. The title points to Kennedy's whiz kids, leaders from industry and universities whose clever policies, Halberstam argues, defied common sense and often overrode career State Department staff. Concentrating on 1960 to 1965 in the Kennedy and Johnson years, he examines the fear of being blamed for losing another country after China, the loss of regional experts in the McCarthy era, worries about drawing in China and Lyndon Johnson's concern for his Great Society programs. He shows how gradual escalation spared the administration early criticism while making both victory and withdrawal less likely.

Barack Obama called it one of his most influential all-time favorites, according to his Facebook page and a New York Times interview from 2008.