Word: mcnamara
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...third-floor of fice of the Pentagon's E-Ring could not have assumed command at a more critical juncture. As Clark McAdams Clifford, 61, was sworn in last week as the nation's ninth Secretary of Defense, succeeding Robert S. McNamara, the U.S. once again stood at a crossroads in Viet Nam-perhaps the most important one. And it is Clifford who, from the massive desk once owned by General of the Armies John ("Black Jack") Pershing, will play a major and possibly decisive role in determining which path the U.S. takes...
...route to the final ceremonies next day, McNamara, Johnson and eleven others got stuck in the Pentagon's elevator No. 13 for twelve minutes. Once outside, they learned that a chilling rain had forced the cancellation of an Air Force and Navy flyover. After four 105-mm. howitzers boomed out a 19-gun salute, Johnson told an audience of 1,000 before the columned Potomac River entrance to the Pentagon: "I have heard this place here referred to as the 'puzzle palace.' Bob McNamara may be the only man who ever found the solution to the puzzle...
During his seven-year tenure, McNamara did indeed go a long way toward solving the puzzle of the Pentagon. Most notable were his application of sophisticated managerial techniques to the department's often chaotic budgetary and systems analysis practices, his firm assertion of civilian control, and his emphasis on conventional as well as nuclear forces. On the debit side were his reluctance to concede error and his inability to get along with Congress. "There is a way for a man to say no without offending, and there is a way for a man to say yes without offending," said...
...McNamara left the Pentagon in the best shape, managerially speaking, it has ever been in. Inevitably he also left behind a spate of unresolved problems that Clifford must confront even if he is only in office through next January in a caretaker role, as some officials expect. Chief among them...
...torpedoes fired appear doubtful," wired Captain John Herrick, commander of the patrol. "Freak weather effects and overeager sonarman may have accounted for many reports. No actual visual sightings by Maddox, suggest complete evaluation before any further action." With access to classified information, Herrick has since changed his mind. McNamara says that he has "unimpeachable" intelligence, probably intercepted North Vietnamese radio messages, to verify independently not only that Hanoi planned an attack on the U.S. destroyers but also that it was informed of the battle's progress...