Reviews for The Color of Truth: McGeorge Bundy and William Bundy: Brothers in Arms

The average rating for The Color of Truth: McGeorge Bundy and William Bundy: Brothers in Arms based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-02-22 00:00:00 J L Chavez Jr. RE-READ Without hesitation I've put this book on my short list of recommendations for anyone who wants to learn more about the Vietnam War. Not at the top simply because it assumes some prior knowledge about many of the players involved and the historical events described and it deals with other times and topicsd, but it should be included, (I think), with books by Halberstam, Sheehan, etc. Why? The Bundy brothers were at the center of most if not all the policy and military decisions concerning Vietnam made during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations - McGeorge as Special Assistant to the President on National Security Affairs to both JFK and LBJ - William working under McNamara, (Defense) and then Dean Rusk, (State). This book/author does an excellent job of putting these decisions in the context of the Bundy brothers' background, upbringing, education, intellect, loyalty and sense of duty, i.e. all the things a biography should do. Will the reader agree with all the decisions the Bundys made? ...Of course not. In fact one may disagree with every decision each or both of them did make but this book gives the reader an appreciation or at least an understanding as to how and why they came about. (As an aside, most of the questions/doubts concerning Vietnam policy made in hindsight, were raised contemporaneously by one or both of the Bundys - just another piece to this enigmatic puzzle.) Regarding the book's perspective/objectivity, I have no complaints and found the author admirably evenhanded - Although there are some anecdotes concerning peripheral individuals, (i.e. Henry Kissinger), which do not show them in the most positive light and may even raise a smirk from the reader. Finally although this review has centered on the Bundys and Vietnam this book chronicles much more, both before and after the Vietnam War - Henry Stimson, military service, the CIA, McCarthyism and the Cold War, Harvard and Yale, Cuba, the Ford Foundation - but in the interest of brevity I hope I've made my point.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-02-09 00:00:00 Marie Seisun This was an amazing book that really hooked me into what was going on during the '50s-60s. McGeorge and William Bundy had the family access and the smarts to go far in the world. Both served admiarably during WWII, and with government thereafter. Both were extremly erudite and desired for their abilities. McGeorge was National Security Advisor for President Kennedy. He did a satisfactory job, but from Bird's work it appears that he wasn't always showing his cards. William, his older brother, was a deputy to Kennedy, and then an Assistant Secretary of State for Kennedy, again, like McGeorge, not always forthright about his views. To sum it all up, these two were able to make some great change in America on small things, but if they had been able to finesse the Vietnam war we might regard them as truly the best and brightest.