bangdazap t1_j07ck7j wrote on December 14, 2022 at 4:30 PM

I've recently finished David Halberstam's The Best and the Brightest. It's about the people Kennedy brought into the White House when he won the election in 1960 and they way they handled the Vietnam War. On one hand, it's interesting how so many intelligent and well educated men can be so wrong, but at times it felt like court gossip. I'm don't think any great insights can be gleaned from the childhood of e.g. Robert McNamara. Kind of hard to get through too I felt towards the end.

elmonoenano t1_j07shos wrote on December 14, 2022 at 6:12 PM

I read the Logevall bio of JFK recently and the first couple hundred pages are a slog b/c his childhood just isn't that interesting. Especially compared to his Father's life. I am excited for the next volume of that though, which will cover the presidency. This volume ended with the election.

No-Strength-6805 t1_j09pecv wrote on December 15, 2022 at 1:56 AM

If you want to read how our policy in Vietnam was carried out read "A Bright Shining Lie " by Neil Sheehan both the 1988 Pulitzer winner in non-fiction and tha National Book award winner.

bangdazap t1_j0avaps wrote on December 15, 2022 at 8:42 AM

Already read it, it's great.

Tiny-Bus-3820 t1_j0gge7u wrote on December 16, 2022 at 1:45 PM

If you enjoy Halberstam, you might like his book The Fifties. His main argument is that many of the innovations and changes in society accredited to the 60s actually began in the 50s I think you might find the book enjoyable.