MORNING GLORY: The Best and Brightest 2.0

In 1997, David Halberstam published a 25th day variation of his 1972 best-seller, "The Best and the Brightest," helium penned a caller instauration for it and helium did not clasp backmost connected whom helium thought was the existent champion of brightest: himself.

The publication had so done good successful the twelvemonth of Richard Nixon’s landslide, a quarter-century earlier earlier the caller preface appeared. Halberstam takes pains to tells america so. The archetypal hardcover had sold 60,000 copies successful its archetypal 2 weeks, 180,000 successful hardcover total, and 1.5 cardinal paperback copies.

That is so a "big book." It is besides virtually a large publication astatine 800+ pages. Its interaction was adjacent bigger. The self-regard of the writer for himself and his enactment is truthful precise explicit that it is suffused successful each paragraph of the introduction. It’s worthy the $25 conscionable to perceive to those 40 minutes, but the full happening is transfixing, a clip capsule of sorts. The publication isn’t work overmuch now. It ought to be, and not due to the fact that of the ambitions of DOGE —which genuinely does look similar "the champion and brightest" of the tech world.

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The aged publication ought to beryllium work present due to the fact that "The Best and the Brightest" tells america truthful overmuch astir the root of the illness of bequest media we spot astir us. It began with…hubris, and with an docket not to archer the information but to archer a communicative that served 1 broadside successful a debate, successful this lawsuit the Kennedy side, the broadside of the Democratic Party, the "enlightened" side.

Halberstam’s project, really, was an apologia for Jack Kennedy, a painstaking mentation of however the Establishment fto him down, however the Bay of Pigs wasn’t his fault, wherefore helium got crushed by Khrushchev successful a June, 1961 acme successful Vienna, and however the full Vietnam catastrophe was a operation of LBJ’s and Nixon’s fault.

JFK was going to get retired of Vietnam, Halberstam tells us, and the 2nd word would person been antithetic etc. The publication is simply a whitewash, possibly the archetypal and biggest whitewash, and a Rosetta Stone for knowing however the cracked and shattered shells of bequest media came to beryllium arsenic they are today, looking astatine their feet whenever the Hunter laptop oregon the erstwhile president’s infirmity was covered up. Legacy media was passed down the ngo to support the near and onslaught the right. It began present with "The Best and the Brightest."

Halberstam’s immense success, and his assertion to genuinely recognize what happened, dispersed retired among the Manhattan-Beltway media elites, and became a benignant of Holy Grail for each journalist. Watergate is really the 2nd enactment successful the coronation of Beltway media arsenic kings of the realm. Halberstam’s publication was the first.

I hadn’t work "The Best and the Brightest" —if I adjacent ever finished it— successful much than 40 years. I downloaded the audio mentation Friday, prompted by Commentary mag exertion John Podhortez’s off-handed examination of the Halberstam rubric —in the magazine’s fantabulous regular podcast— to Elon Musk and the 7 "Men successful Black" sitting down with Bret Baier past week. (I wouldn’t person been amazed to spot Tommy Lee Jones stride-in and instrumentality a chair.)

Podhoretz’s constituent was we person tried "really astute people" successful authorities earlier and it didn’t enactment out. He mentioned "Best and Brightest" and it touched a distant memory. Were the astute guys who came successful with President John F. Kennedy truly that smart? Or were they just…connected?  Products of the close bloodlines, the close schools, the close mentors?

Turns retired that’s what Halberstam thought and wrote astir that taxable —at length— but a reread, particularly of the 1992 edition, reveals overmuch more. It is the root communicative of bequest media’s emergence and fall. In the 1992 edition’s introduction, Halberstam revealed the origins of his publication successful an nonfiction for Harper’s —one of the superior magazines for superior journalists backmost successful the day. Midge Dector, whom Halberstam notes went connected to beryllium a neoconservative, had suggested an nonfiction connected McGeorge Bundy. Halberstam ran with it. And ran, and ran, and ran.

"A airy went connected immediately," helium tells us. "It was a accidental to look astatine possibly the astir luminescent of the Kennedy people, each of whom had seemed truthful dazzling erstwhile they had archetypal taken office."  It would besides beryllium a accidental for Halberstam to survey the full medication and particularly its Vietnam debacle.

"The nonfiction created thing of a storm," helium tells us, arsenic "the wide powerfulness of people and a mag similar Harper’s was a bully woody much almighty successful narration to tv than it is today."  

"And this was regarded arsenic an important article. It marked the archetypal clip that anyone successful immoderate large centrist magazine, fto unsocial a presumably centrist one, had been truthful captious of a subordinate of the Kennedy Administration. Far much important, it was the archetypal clip a writer successful the wide halfway had suggested that the Kennedy medication mightiness beryllium overrated and that its decision-making connected Vietnam was importantly flawed," helium concludes.

Halberstam had been to Vietnam for 3 months successful 1967 —he had been a analogous determination 4 years earlier— and this 90-day travel had near him "appalled and disillusioned." He brands himself "depressed" repeatedly. He recovered successful Vietnam "optimism" that was, helium says, self-deception.

"‘What the American Army mislaid successful Vietnam,’ my adjacent person and workfellow Charlie Moore told maine years later," Halbestram tells the scholar successful 1 of a 1000 asides, "in the champion summation of that time, ‘was its intelligence integrity.’"

Up until that time, Halberstam concedes, determination had been a "gentleman’s statement among the ‘good journalists of Washington’ that the Kennedy medication was 1 of excellence, that it was for bully things and against atrocious things, and erstwhile it did atrocious things, it was lone successful aforesaid defence truthful that it mightiness bash different bully things."

Halberstam broke the agreement, and overmuch of Georgetown constitution was angry, but Halberstram got a publication deal. Thus, much than a decennary earlier "All the President’s Men" came out, the founding story of the writer arsenic Sir Galahad arose.

"Ours is simply a assemblage built connected the immediacy of reward," Halberstam confesses arsenic helium discourses connected the trouble of giving up a regular byline for the beingness of an author. Journalism isn’t a assemblage astatine each —it’s a craft, and anyone tin bash it— but the subtle climbing up the presumption ladder of journalism is astatine enactment here, 1 that helium since launched a 1000 ships.

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There are besides collected successful 1 spot the received wisdoms that predominate inactive overmuch of bequest media, often held tightly by radical whose acquaintance with the existent post-war past of the United States is, astatine best, passing. The Cold War, McCarthyism, the 1960 campaign…Camelot: It’s each here. "The quality betwixt quality and wisdom" is thing Halberstam thinks helium understands.

One condemnation stands out: "The bully reporters of that era, those who were well-educated and who were enlightened themselves and worked for enlightened organizations similar the Kennedy’s and were for the aforesaid things the Kennedys were for."

There are different "tells" passim this book. "There is nary tiny irony here," helium writes, astir the "arrogance of the men of the Atlantic," and Halberstam’s decision that Kennedy "would not person sent combat troops into Vietnam."

"In 1964 [JFK] wanted to enactment [Vietnam] connected the backmost burner, tally against Goldwater, bushed him handily —which helium expected to do, past negociate his mode out."

See, the newsman arsenic mystic, telling america what would person been if the "good journalists" from "enlightened publications" had conscionable helped JFK steer the vessel a spot better, had the president not been murdered and succeeded by the oafish LBJ and the sinister Nixon.

"The information was that past —and successful Indochino we were connected the incorrect broadside of it— is simply a hard taskmaster."

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Halberstam really writes that successful the 1992 preface. We adjusted "much of our journalism to marque it look arsenic if it were a warfare of communists against anti-communists, instead, arsenic the radical of Vietnam whitethorn person seen it, arsenic a warfare of assemblage powerfulness against an indigenous, nationalist force."

Halberstam credits Theodore White’s Making of the President 1960 arsenic inventing the signifier helium followed, and White surely did acceptable up a genre. But Halberstam did overmuch much than that. He created an archetype: The writer arsenic semi-god and truth-teller. It was a myth, a story that was intended to beryllium believed. One that is simply a gag now.

Hugh Hewitt is big of "The Hugh Hewitt Show," heard weekday mornings 6am to 9am ET connected the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast connected Salem News Channel. Hugh wakes up America connected implicit 400 affiliates nationwide, and connected each the streaming platforms wherever SNC tin beryllium seen. He is simply a predominant impermanent connected the Fox News Channel’s quality roundtable hosted by Bret Baier weekdays astatine 6pm ET. A lad of Ohio and a postgraduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law astatine Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 wherever helium teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous vigor amusement from Los Angeles successful 1990.  Hewitt has often appeared connected each large nationalist quality tv network, hosted tv shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for each large American paper, has authored a twelve books and moderated a people of Republican campaigner debates, astir precocious the November 2023 Republican statesmanlike statement successful Miami and 4 Republican statesmanlike debates successful the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his vigor amusement and his file connected the Constitution, nationalist security, American authorities and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump implicit his 40 years successful broadcast, and this file previews the pb communicative that volition thrust his radio/ TV amusement today.

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