Rethinking Camelot:JFK, the Vietnam War, and U.S. Political Culture

This analysis of John F. Kennedy's role in the US invasion of Vietnam asks: was he the "shining knight" about to withdraw from Vietnam, end the Cold War arms race and smash the CIA - stopped only by the assassin's bullet?

This book is a thorough analysis of John F. Kennedy's role in the invasion of Vietnam and a probing reflection on the elite political culture that allowed and encouraged the Cold War. In it, Chomsky dismisses efforts to resurrect Camelot—an attractive American myth portraying JFK as a shining knight promising peace, oiled only by assassins bent on stopping this lone hero who would have unilaterally withdrawn from Vietnam had he lived. Contrary to prominent figures such as Oliver Stone (director of JFK), historian Arthur Schlesinger, and John Newman (author of JFK and Vietnam) Chomsky argues that U.S. institutions and political culture, not individual presidents, are the key to understanding U.S. behavior during the Vietnam War.