What is the Enduring Question?

[Jon G. Tidd]

McGeorge Bundy's role in crafting NSAM 273, which I regard as more significant than NSAM 263, is telling.

Bundy graduated first in his class at Yale, with a degree in mathematics. After the war, he became the youngest dean ever of Harvard College. David Halberstam in The Best and the Brightest describes Bundy as the most brilliant person of his generation.

It's easy to imagine Bundy had a big ego, was sure of his thinking, and was capable of persuading powerful individuals of his views. He was a hard-line hawk on Viet Nam. JFK brought him into the White House. That may have been JFK's biggest mistake.

[Cliff Varnell]

McGeorge Bundy's role in crafting NSAM 273, which I regard as more significant than NSAM 263, is telling.

Bundy graduated first in his class at Yale, with a degree in mathematics. After the war, he became the youngest dean ever of Harvard College. David Halberstam in The Best and the Brightest describes Bundy as the most brilliant person of his generation.

It's easy to imagine Bundy had a big ego, was sure of his thinking, and was capable of persuading powerful individuals of his views. He was a hard-line hawk on Viet Nam. JFK brought him into the White House. That may have been JFK's biggest mistake.

Bundy (Skull & Bones 1940) was recommended to Kennedy by Robert Lovett.(Skull & Bones 1918).

[Jon G. Tidd]

Gene Kelly,

In my view, the worst thing that ever happened to this country was the JFK assassination. It was the overthrow of this country's chief executive, a coup d'etat. No matter who did it, it was a brutal affront to the U.S. Constitution. Unlike G.W. Bush and Barack Obama, I hold the Constitution in the highest regard. It's what defines the United States and sets the U.S. apart from other nations. It's what binds 50 disparate states into one nation.

I find it easy to believe the parties responsible for JFK's death have been responsible for other horrors, here and abroad.

I find it easy to believe, as Don Jeffries writes, that the horrors beginning on 11-22-63 share connection.

Yes, there have been many horrors, both before and after the JFK assassination. I don't know how to rank them. Was Pearl Harbor worse than 9-11? Was Iran-Contra worse than the Tonkin Gulf resolution? I don't know. But I agree with Don Jeffries.

In any event, pissing on the U.S. Constitution is the biggest deal of all, in my view.

[David Andrews]

And the worst things are always the most telling things.

Those that commit them forget the lessons of the best things.

Edited September 21, 2015 by David Andrews