A Bright, Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam

p. 669

Ellsworth Bunker, US Ambassador in Saigon during the Vietnam War was a thoughtful Democrat and thrifty millionaire “who, after the pants were worn out, saved the coat of a suit to wear it as a sport jacket. His shoes were Brooks Brothers’ best English make, but there were lots of cracks in the leather under the gleam of the polish, because Bunker had the shoes resoled until the tops wore out.” He had ‘the aplomb of a patrician . . . fortified by . . . natural reserve and a discretion he cultivated. The reserve hid forbearance and a man who was a raconteur and wit of the first order in private company.”