Who is Walt Rostow from The Best and the Brightest and what is their importance?

Walt Rostow was the son of a Russian Jewish immigrant and born in New York in 1916. He was a graduate of Yale and a Rhodes scholar who met John Kennedy in the 1950s. Rostow was widely published, having written numerous articles and books and was well liked and respected by his colleagues at Harvard. He functioned as an advisor to Kennedy during the campaign and was a strong believer in his own ideas. Rostow had been promised the job as the head of the Policy Planning Council at the State Department but he did not receive the job. He worked at the White House as the deputy to McGeorge Bundy. Rostow supported a firm anti-communist policy in Vietnam. Rostow was sent to Vietnam, along with Maxwell Taylor, on a fact finding mission by the President. Their report led to increased U.S. involvement in Vietnam.