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Robert Strange McNamara

By Jeremy Rosenberg
July 7, 2009
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Reviled by many, unforgiven by the same, the architect of the Vietnam War has died.

Robert Strange McNamara's think tank interactions were legion.


From today's obits all across the web, here's but one mention, from the

Los Angeles Times:

"During one classic encounter in 1961, McNamara absorbed a complex one-hour presentation on nuclear deterrence from a Rand Corp. expert, glanced over 54 detailed slides and quickly decided to jettison the Eisenhower administration's policy of nuclear targeting of Russian cities and shift to military installations. Without debate, his "doctrine at the flick of his pen" set in motion the nuclear "counterforce" policy that would govern U.S. military strategy for the next 40 years, wrote biographer Deborah Shapley."

Also, most obits link McNamara with Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. Ellsberg worked for RAND.

Towards the end of his life, McNamara worked on nuclear non-proliferation issues. Here's one link to remarks he made at a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace forum.

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