The Best and the Brightest

The Best and the Brightest
First edition
AuthorDavid Halberstam
LanguageEnglish
SubjectVietnam War
Published1972 (Random House)
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback)
Pages697
ISBN978-0679640998

The Best and the Brightest (1972) is a book 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 academics and intellectuals who were in President John F. Kennedy's administration, and the consequences of those policies in Vietnam. The title referred to Kennedy's "whiz kids"—leaders of industry and academia brought into the administration—whom Halberstam characterized as insisting on "brilliant policies that defied common sense" in Vietnam, often against the advice of career U.S. Department of State employees.