Word: mcnamara
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...Looking even farther into the future, Wisconsin's quixotic Democratic Senator William Proxmire named Defense Secretary Robert McNamara as "the leading choice right now for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968-although he apparently is not a Democrat." McNamara, former president of Ford Motor Co., joined the New Frontier as a registered Republican, but calls himself an independent. Proxmire did add that the Democrats will have lots of other attractive possibilities in '68, when Jack Kennedy will, under the Constitution, be disallowed from seeking a third term. Among Proxmire's nominations: Attorney General Robert Kennedy and Massachusetts...
When the Army called up 119,000 reservists and National Guardsmen during the 1961 Berlin crisis, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara was appalled at the results. The civilian soldiers stood at a pitiful average of 65% of authorized combat strength. Several supposedly crack divisions were hopelessly out of training, and many of the troops spent most of their time writing Congressmen and complaining to newsmen about the indignity of being summoned to duty. Then and there, McNamara vowed to overhaul and shape up the nation's reserve ranks. Last week he got into action...
Horse Trading. Few institutions enjoy more political protection than the National Guard. Financed 97% from Washington, yet commanded by state Governors when not federalized, the Guard is a rich receptacle for political favors. Invited to the Governors' Conference in Hershey, Pa., last summer to explain his proposed reorganization, McNamara pleaded for understanding. But he could not head off a resolution opposing "any plan which would drastically reduce the size and effectiveness" of the Guard...
Instead of throwing up his hands, McNamara turned horse trader. Wiring each of the 50 Governors, he offered to compromise with them on which units would be cut back. His Pentagon staff worked overtime to win the support of reluctant Congressmen. McNamara himself paid a quiet call on Georgia's Carl Vinson, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, at Vinson's cattle farm. Flattered, Vinson couldn't say no. His tacit agreement led to last week's announcement of the biggest reform of the nation's standing militia since World...
Shuffling. The essentials of McNamara's plan are simple. Four divisions of the Army Reserve, which is under permanent Pentagon command, are abolished outright because they are either undermanned, undertrained or outmoded. McNamara is seeking the required approval of Governors involved to downgrade, for similar reasons, four National Guard infantry divisions-the 34th of Iowa and Nebraska, the 35th of Kansas and Missouri, the 43rd of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont, and the 51st of Florida and South Carolina. Those outfits (authorized division strength: 13,500) would be regrouped into 3,300-man brigades. Further, 1,800 smaller Guard...