September 05, 2009  

Virtual JFK: Vietnam if Kennedy had Lived is now available on DVD. The award-winning documentary, produced at Brown, poses one of America’s most compelling “what if” scenarios.

At the heart of the film lies the fundamental question: Does it matter who is president on issues of war and peace? With troop escalation now under consideration in Afghanistan, one reviewer’s comments take on new meaning: "Now’s probably a good time to look back at the life and work of John F. Kennedy, and Virtual JFK serves as a sobering reminder that diplomacy and discourse are sometimes the best weapons a president can deploy."

The film is directed by Visiting Fellow Koji Masutani '05. Producers are Institute Professor James G. Blight and Adjunct Professor janet M. Lang, who co-authored a book by the same name with Waterloo University’s David A. Welch. Blight and Lang’s essay, “Is Afghanistan Obama’s Vietnam?,” also ran in the Chronicle of Higher Education earlier this year.