under jfk (1960-1963), usa troop count in vietnam went from ~700 to 16752.
under lbj, (1963-1968), usa troop count in vietnam went from 16752 to ~549000 (approved).
when most people think of the cost of the vietnam war, they think of the ~549000, not the ~16000.
also this does not take into consideration the re-writing of NSAM 273 (issued on Nov. 26, 1963), which LBJ presented as consistent with JFK’s wishes, when in fact it directly contradicted them by increasing (not decreasing) USA military involvement.
In short, James Reston was spreading disinformation and aggrandizing himself, and does not deserve to held as an honest broker of news. Furthermore, the account cannot be verified and so should be regarded as anecdotal. that’s probably true even if another reporter is on record as having heard the exchange.
I tend to agree with Reston. Kruschev would never have tried to put nukes into Cuba if he hadn’t thought JFK was weak.
I agree that LBJ expanded the Vietnam war manyfold. His tapes are replete on what he did and why he did it.
But JFK cast the die and took us to the point of no return.