More Vietnam

I forgot to mention the Color of Truth as an excellent book about Vietnam. The book is a biography of the Bundy brothers from early life through Vietnam and beyond. Two things are particularly interesting to me about this book. First, it illustrates that at one time, the best and the brightest (used unironically here) chose careers in public service. Both left and right have fallen away from this today, in pursuit of more lucrative career avenues. Second, it shows the incredible difficulty in formulating policy. Even when they realize they are making bad choices, they press forward because the best choice is often the least bad choice.