1056 Ambassador's Journal: A Personal Account of the Kennedy Years, by John Kenneth Galbraith (read 16 June 1970) I have slogged through this account of Galbraith's years as Ambassador to India (1961-1963). He is very literate and appears to be extremely capable. Would I had his self-confidence! The book is merely a journal he kept while Indian Ambassador: but it brims with nice touches. It ends, as all these Kennedy books do, in extreme poignancy: "The ceremony at Arlington was the most heartrending time of all. The sky was blue and bright, and one had the impression of a day that had very little to do with death. People were massed on the hillside with flowers scattered everywhere. There was a prayer by Cardinal Cushing, not eloquent but full of emotion. The 21-gun salute sounded and the muskets fired from the brilliantly polished ranks of soldiers, sailors, and Marines. The music from the band was impressive and the playing of Last Post almost unbearably so. At the end the flag was folded and given to J. B. K. It was over." ( )

The best such journal I have ever read--and the best insights into the Kennedy years and the early years of the Vietnam War. Galbraith was an insider and a visionary who saw what was coming in Vietnam, but who was listening? ( )