From the arguments which were presented throughout this essay, it is safe to say that behind the scenes, Kennedy was in favour of de-escalation in Vietnam. However due to the “indoctrinated” public, Kennedy could not publicise his views, as he would be viewed as ‘soft’ on Communism. So inevitably in JFK’s short presidency, the United States “involvement in Vietnam became more military and less political”. 58 Historians who argue that Kennedy would have escalated the Vietnam war point out that LBJ was similar to Kennedy in terms of foreign policy approach, he wasn’t an out an out Hawk, and he also subscribed to the containment policy, a policy which had lasted Kennedy and 10 years previous. 59 However, people close to Kennedy and historians who wrote in the ‘Camelot’ era have a different perspective; Middle East advisor Curtis Jones saw the events unfold in Dallas and noted that with LBJ’s “Middle East policy did almost a 180 degree turn”. 60 This example of a major difference in opinion is completely reflective of the literature which covers the Kennedy era. Mark White notes that because Kennedy was assassinated, the immediate assessments of his life were overwhelmingly positive, this period became known as the Camelot School, with major contributors being Arthur Schlesinger and Theodore Sorensen. 61 To balance the literature on Kennedy, a wave of “counter-Camelot school emerged”
58 Donovan, p. 198. 59 VanDeMark, pp. 9-10. 60 Thomas, p. 121.
61 Mark J., White, ‘Introduction: A New Synthesis for the New Frontier’, in Kennedy: The New Frontier Revisited (Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 1998), pp. 1-17. <https://blackboard.swan.ac.uk/bbcswebdav/pid-2392992-dt-content-rid- 2304151_2/courses/1718_AM- 245/Mark%20White%20JFK%20Literature%20Review.pdf> [accessed 5 November 2017] (pp. 1-2).
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