Robert McNamara Born June 9 1916 by Mitch Rubman

Robert McNamara

Born June 9 1916

Robert McNamara has a long list of accomplishments, awards and critics. He has the distinction of being the longest serving Secretary of Defense in American History. He was educated at UC Berkeley with a degree in Economics along with minors in mathematics and philosophy. In 1939 he graduated from the prestigious Harvard(hahr-verd) Business School. He then joined the accounting firm, Price Waterhouse where he stayed for a year until returning to Harvard to teach.

McNamara was the youngest and highest paid professors of accounting at Harvard Business School. This analytic(an-l-it-ik) brilliance was the basis for his opinions of strategy throughout the years he served on both LBJs and JFKs administration. In the Army he used these techniques to measure efficiency and effectiveness of the B29 bombers during WW2. McNamara was a reductionist, he would eventually try and reduce everything to numbers, and he didn’t want opinions just hard numbers as proof.

After the war, he was among a group of 10 known businessman called the wiz kids that were hired by Ford to save Ford motor company from disaster. Those years were growth years for Ford and eventually McNamara was asked to be president, the first time a non-family member was elected.

He served for less than a year when he was asked to join the Kennedy’s President Elect team as Secretary of the Treasury or Secretary of the Defense department. He agreed to become Secretary of Defense. Previous to McNamara the United States had maintained Eisenhower’s policy of massive retaliation. But with McNamara’s technique for statistical analysis of everything, a limited response war was deemed more advantageous. This changed everything, forever. McNamara understood that Vietnam was a ground war fought by snipers and raids and analyzed everything. The number of advisors skyrocketed in Vietnam(vee-et-nahm) from 900 to 16,000.

McNamara changed and controlled policy and was often not popular in his deductions he made. His method of statistically analyzing everything instead of relying on military advice was very unpopular in many ways and yet was ahead of its time. Perhaps it was the Ford car background that made him want single vendors and a single strike force. This is the same decision that the current military goes through.

But McNamara’s insistence for a flexible, deadly advance fighter jet was difficult and unique at that time. The idea of supersonic flight with slow carrier landings and tactical flight operations made the jet heavy and difficult to land and was eventually abandoned.

Even senior military advisors had a difficult time understanding McNamara’s reports creating an air of distrust and unpopularity. The reports were deemed to be skewed to agree and support decisions that McNamara had already made. Some reports entitled DPMs (Draft Presidential Memorandum) bypassed the normal flow chart and went directly to the President further angering his critics as they were now effectively cut out of a direct line to the President. Sixteen DPMs were issued between the years 1961 and 1968. The DPMS were so complex(kuhm-pleks) that it was virtually impossible for anyone to challenge its conclusions.

McNamara is also created with advising the President during the critical moments of the Cuban missile crisis. He agreed with the blockade idea of stopping the Soviets, rather than a missile strike. His policies also included the closing of dozens of underused or unnecessary military bases, an unpopular decision created with saving more than 14 billion dollars in a five year period. 

McNamara’s reason for departure is uncertain, he either left on his own or was asked to leave. He is well remembered and was awarded both the Distinguish service metal and the Medal of Freedom, he is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Robert McNamara has a long list of accomplishments, awards and critics. He has the distinction of being the longest serving Secretary of Defense in American History. He was educated at UC Berkeley with a degree in Economics along with minors in mathematics and philosophy. In 1939 he graduated from the prestigious Harvard Business School. He then joined the accounting firm, Price Waterhouse where he stayed for a year until returning to Harvard to teach.

McNamara was the youngest and highest paid professors of accounting at Harvard Business School. This analytic brilliance was the basis for his opinions of strategy throughout the years he served on both LBJs and JFKs administration. In the Army he used these techniques to measure efficiency and effectiveness of the B29 bombers during WW2. McNamara was a reductionist, he would eventually try and reduce everything to numbers, and he didn’t want opinions just hard numbers as proof.

After the war, he was among a group of 10 known businessman called the wiz kids that were hired by Ford to save Ford motor company from disaster. Those years were growth years for Ford and eventually McNamara was asked to be president, the first time a non-family member was elected.

He served for less than a year when he was asked to join the Kennedy’s President Elect team as Secretary of the Treasury or Secretary of the Defense department. He agreed to become Secretary of Defense. Previous to McNamara the United States had maintained Eisenhower’s policy of massive retaliation. But with McNamara’s technique for statistical analysis of everything, a limited response war was deemed more advantageous. This changed everything, forever. McNamara understood that Vietnam was a ground war fought by snipers and raids and analyzed everything. The number of advisors skyrocketed in Vietnam from 900 to 16,000.

McNamara changed and controlled policy and was often not popular in his deductions he made. His method of statistically analyzing everything instead of relying on military advice was very unpopular in many ways and yet was ahead of its time. Perhaps it was the Ford car background that made him want single vendors and a single strike force. This is the same decision that the current military goes through.

But McNamara’s insistence for a flexible, deadly advance fighter jet was difficult and unique at that time. The idea of supersonic flight with slow carrier landings and tactical flight operations made the jet heavy and difficult to land and was eventually abandoned.

Even senior military advisers had a difficult time understanding McNamara’s reports creating an air of distrust and unpopularity. The reports were deemed to be skewed to agree and support decisions that McNamara had already made. Some reports entitled DPMs (Draft Presidential Memorandum) bypassed the normal flow chart and went directly to the President further angering his critics as they were now effectively cut out of a direct line to the President. Sixteen DPMs were issued between the years 1961 and 1968. The DPMS were so complex that it was virtually impossible for anyone to challenge its conclusions.

McNamara is also created with advising the President during the critical moments of the Cuban missile crisis. He agreed with the blockade idea of stopping the Soviets, rather than a missile strike. His policies also included the closing of dozens of underused or unnecessary military bases, an unpopular decision created with saving more than 14 billion dollars in a five year period. 

McNamara’s reason for departure is uncertain, he either left on his own or was asked to leave. He is well remembered and was awarded both the Distinguish service metal and the Medal of Freedom, he is buried at Arlington National Cemetery(sem-i-ter-ee).