His candid memoir provides useful insight into his and America's agony over Vietnam. McNamara died at his home in Washington, D.C., at 5:30 a.m. on July 6, 2009, at the age of 93. [103] McNamara was not impressed with Kỳ, reporting to Johnson that he saw little evidence that he was capable of winning the war, and the United States would have to send more troops to South Vietnam. "[130], To commemorate President Harry S Truman's signing an order to end segregation in the military, McNamara issued Directive 5120.36 on July 26, 1963. [109] On 7 November 1965, McNamara sent Johnson a memo saying that the "substantial loss of American lives" in Vietnam was worth the sacrifice in order to contain China, which McNamara called the world's most dangerous nation. [32] However, Kennedy was afraid of a Congressional backlash if he sacked two of the chiefs at once. Robert Strange McNamara (June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American business executive and the eighth United States Secretary of Defense, serving from 1961 to 1968 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.He played a major role in escalating the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War. McNamara epitomized the hyper-rational executive who relied on numbers rather than sentiments, and who could apply his quantitative skills to any industry he turned them to. [123] McNaughton told McNamara that after having talked to some of the young people that "a feeling is widely and strongly held...that 'the Establishment' is out of its mind" and the dominant opinion was "that we are trying to impose some U.S. image on distant peoples we cannot understand and that we carrying the thing to absurd lengths. [75] To compensate for the weaknesses of the South Vietnamese state, by late winter of 1964, senior officials in the Johnson administration such as McNamara's deputy, William Bundy, the assistant secretary of defense, were advocating American intervention in the war. I f you were … President John F. Kennedy meets with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in the Cabinet Room in 1962 – Photo: ... His conviction was based on statistical analyzes of not only the living standards and consumption habits of this consumer base but also on the car's cost per unit and the way the automobile industry was organized at the time. [78] On 4 August 1964, the Maddox and another destroyer, the USS Turner Joy, initially claimed to have been attacked by the North Vietnamese torpedo boats in international waters on a stormy night, but shortly afterward reported there was probably no attack. McNamara took other steps to increase U.S. deterrence posture and military capabilities. [180], On September 29, 1972, a passenger on the ferry to Martha's Vineyard recognized McNamara on board and attempted to throw him into the ocean. The way to measure progress, therefore, was by the number of enemy killed. McNamara relied on the figures, fetishized them. In practical terms, this meant training and equipping U.S. military personnel, as well as allies such as South Vietnam, for counterinsurgency operations. It is a statement of no-win". And not to quantify what can be quantified is only to be content with something less than the full range of reason.” If only the right data were used in the right way, not respected for data’s sake. and "Why believe this?"[152]. Google’s obsession with such data for HR purposes is especially queer considering that the company’s founders are products of Montessori schools, which emphasize learning, not grades. In order to police the skies Secretary was a way to prevent river blindness eighth Secretary! 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