RIP: Robert McNamara
 

Robert S. McNamara, Architect of a Futile War, Dies at 93 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com

On one hand, probably one of the most vilified Secretaries of Defense in US history. On the other, someone accomplished in multiple fields with a well-deserved reputation for having a powerful intellect. Aside from Vietnam, I think that he would also be remembered as one of the early pioneers of rigorous quantitative analysis in both the business and military fields. Of course, his leaning and certitude on quantitative methods was a criticism of his handling of the Vietnam war.

As an aside, I did get to meet him around the time that "In Retrospect" was published. He had worked very closely with one of my thesis advisers on an oral history project that managed to get in one room all of the key players from the Cuban Missile Crisis, both American, Soviet, and Cuban (including Castro himself), that were still alive. At the time, they were preparing to do the same type of project on the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War happened to be my thesis topic, so I got to tag along when McNamara came to campus. I wish that I had made more of the opportunity to pick his brains, but I recall that even in his late seventies/early eighties, he had the mental acuity and physical energy of a man half his age or more...

Quite the interesting person no doubt.

Yes...on one hand he made terrible miscalculations on Vietnam...but might very well be credited with the the avoidance of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Likely that his Vietnam "leash" was so long due his handling of the CMC.

Either way...RIP.

I remember reading In Retrospect when I was in college. RIP.