[MB.]

Robert S. McNamara, former Secretary of Defense and former President of the World Bank reminisces with host Harry Kreisler about public service, the War in Vietnam, znc the dangers of the superpower confrontation during the Cold War.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
[youtube]InM-E64AUOc[/youtube]

You can watch all of the series interviews here. For the record, this interview is from 1996. The Eroll Morris documentary was made in 2003.

[Ombrageux]

Saw it some time ago. Actually very similar to the stuff he later covered in Fog of War. Nonetheless absolutely required watching, fascinating stuff and charming character.

[Sniperwolfe]

Same, saw The Fog of War not too long ago. Very important in understanding the difficulties of the U.S. military in Vietnam.

Edit:

Just realized I necroed, woops!

[Cookie Monster]

I always found McNamara more intriguing than Kissinger. Vietnam was kind of a stain in his career, but it was this experience which thought him many valuable lessons.

[Smilin' Dave]

Did McNamara really get to put those lessons to good use after Vietnam though? Aside from documentaries about him I mean

Just realized I necroed, woops!

It's not really necro if it's still page one.

[MB.]

His career at the world bank is worthy of study. He applied his typical managerial style to this institution with as much fervor as he did during his tenure at Ford and as Sec Def. This man was a legend.

[Sniperwolfe]

Out of curiosity, does anyone else find it strange that McNamara lied so blatantly about Diem in the Fog of War?

[MB.]

Not really. He was a blatant liar throughout his career. Basically, if it served his ideological or political objectives he was willing to bend the truth and or lie about it. McNamara's signature managerial style, his emphasis on quantitative analysis, was the means to the end not the ends in and of themselves (although, to be fair, of course quantitative analysis can be used to obscure truth and McNamara was guilty of this on many occasions). As you can imagine, McNamara was keenly aware of how he would be remembered, and these documentaries and books endorse his historiographical agenda.






One of the things that I love about studying history is how empowering it is.