Word: mcnamara
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...ally and adversary alike, Robert Strange McNamara has always seemed a man of diamond-hard will and titanium physique. When his forthcoming departure from the Pentagon was announced last week, it seemed almost as if the Washington Monument had toppled from marble fatigue...
...Similar logic, according to Adam Yarmolinsky '43, his former top aide, McNamara recently backed the development of a "thin" anti-ballistic missile system to protect the Chinese,--who lacking a "second strike" or "comeback" nuclear capability, are more likely than America or Russia to use nuclear weapons rashly...
...remains McNamara's tragedy, perhaps, despite the power of his arguments that he has frequently failed to appreciate the political consequences of his decisions. For his deployment of a thin ABM system may in time generate pressure to build a far more costly, unnecessary "thick" system to defend against the Russians...
Similarly, McNamara demonstrated political insensitivity in his dealings with Congress and the career military. He apparently felt that intelligence, reason, and eloquence were adequate compensation for skilled bureaucratic diplomacy. In seizing perquisites from Armed Services committees, admirals, and generals, he cultivated so many enemies throughout Washington that his influence in the past year could not do anything but wane...
...McNamara's much-ballyhooed computer efficiency and the extraordinary attention he gave to his department, he also influenced the operations of the entire Executive branch more than any of this predecessors. He spearheaded President Kennedy's drive for the 1963 nuclear test-ban treaty, decried the refusal of the rich nations to expedite the development of the poor ones, and was a behind-the-scenes force in federal civil rights and poverty planning. In short, he felt that American defense consisted of more than nuclear hardware, and American prosperity more than a high growth rate and stable price index...