McNAMARA

ROBERT MCNAMARA
Robert McNamara died yesterday, Monday, July 6, 2009, at his home in Washington, D.C. He was born in San Francisco, on June 9,1916. He was 93. I first heard about his death during the Lehrer NewsHour, but I didn’t dwell on it.
I sat with Ed at lunch today. He brought up the subject. He told me that McNamara was a classmate of his - at both Cal - Berkeley and in graduate school at Harvard. I asked Ed where he was born, and he said, “Oakland.” That got me reminiscing. I remembered seeing McNamara on his 1997 lecture circuit, in Walnut Creek. He was promoting his latest book - “In retrospect: the tragedy and lessons of Viet Nam.” I purchased a copy.
I started thinking about his career, as I casually followed it through the years. So, I looked it up on Google. My inquiry came up with a very interesting review of his life. I would like to share some of the highlights that I found:
McNamara said that his earliest memory was when he was two years old. (I wouldn’t doubt his early age, as much later he was known as one of the “Whiz Kids” while working at Ford.) He said that he remembered the celebration of peace on that first Armistice Day - November 11, 1918. It marked the end of the Great war - then called “the war to end all wars. Now, we call that conflict The First World war, or world war L I mention this because November 11, 1918 was my birth date, The Armistice was signed in France at 11 A.M. (Paris time), or 6 A.M. in Hillsdale, Michigan. I was born 20 minutes later! So, I guess that I can loosely say that McNamara and I had something in common! McNamara served as an officer in the Army Air Corps during world war II.
McNamara joined Ford Motor Company in 1946, as an executive. In 1960 he was promoted to President of the company - the first man outside of the Ford family to hold the position. While working at Ford in Dearborn, he lived in Ann Arbor. I mention this because my parents lived in nearby Ypsilanti for over 40 years - as did I, for four years.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960. He appointed McNamara as Secretary of Defense. In 1961, McNamara initiated a major change in policy - a decision to increase the nation’s” limited warfare” capabilities. His new directive replaced President Eisenhower’s policy of “massive retaliation.” In 1962, McNamara played a big part in the Kennedy Administration’s response to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The Armed Forces strength totaled about 3.6 million in 1953, at the end of the Korean War. The strength was reduced to 2.5 million by 1961, The forces leveled off at 2.7 million, until the Viet Nam buildup in 1965, when it reached a peak of 3.5 million in mid 1968, just after McNamara left office.
McNamara became more controversial after 1966. He differed with the President and the Joint Chiefs of Staff over Viet Nam strategy. As a result, McNamara left office as Secretary of Defense on February 29, 1968. He served seven years as Secretary of Defense - longer than anyone before, or since - to date.
Robert McNamara served as president of the World Bank from April 1968 until June 1981.
McNamara served as a trustee on the board at Caltech, and also on the board of the Economics for Peace and Security, and an honorary trustee for the Brookings Institution.

RCL 7/12/09.