AUSTIN, Texas — Walt W. Rostow, who as a member of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations was one of the "best and brightest" who led the United States into the Vietnam War, has died at 86.
Rostow died Thursday, said Pam Crowther, a spokeswoman for Seton Medical Center. The cause of death was not disclosed.
President Kennedy appointed Rostow in 1961 as deputy special assistant for national security. Later that year Rostow was named counselor of the State Department and chairman of its Policy Planning Council.
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In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Rostow special assistant for national security affairs. He remained in that post as the Vietnam War escalated and until the end of the Johnson administration in early 1969.