The NY Times is reporting that Robert McNamara died yesterday. For those of you under 45, think of him as the Donald Rumsfeld of his day as he was the lightning rod for Vietnam. Also, like Rumsfeld, he was a super smart guy who would have been a great defense secretary had he not had a war to fight.
What made him unusual is that he clearly struggled with the morality of war, even while fighting it. What made him disgusting was that he didn't act on these thoughts when he had the opportunity to change the course of Vietnam. I remember when going through the LBJ library in Austin and reading a letter he wrote to Johnson right after JFK died saying the the war was unwinnable. But, he still fought the war.
There was a huge shit storm when his autobiography came out (and the subsequent documentary by Errol Morris). This was because his admissions seemed too little and too late. For some things, saying "I'm sorry" just isn't enough.
Obviously, that lesson was wasted on Rumsfeld, Bush, Cheney and Rice when it came to Iraq. Hopefully the war mongers of the future will heed his warnings.
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