The Experts

by Clyde Edwin Pettit

Published 1975 in the United States of America - First Edition, First Copy

This book is very special to me because it was dedicated to my great grandfather by the author, and is also the first copy of the book. Mr. Pettit grew up in Stuttgart Arkansas, where my grandfather and great grandfather are from and he had a friendship with both my great grandfather and grandfather. My great grandfather was Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas during the 1910s and was acting Governor for a period. After involvement in federal politics in Washington, which he ridiculed as wholly corrupt, my great grandfather returned home to Stuttgart to practice law, but remained an influential contributor to politics.

Mr. Pettit passed away in the 1990s, but his critical work continues to provide insight into the history and nature of the American involvement in Vietnam.

The Experts is not a typical book, in fact the only writing by Mr. Pettit in the entire book is the forward. The rest of the book is an exhaustive compilation of quotes from a variety of sources in chronological order that give the reader direct access to exactly what was being said by whom and when, allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions from first hand information. The book often contrasts quotes from then recently declassified documents with quotes from popular publications, showing the wide disconnect between public discourse and government information.