Word: pentagon
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...absolute loyalty to both Presidents he has served, as well as a superlative performance in his job. Johnson was fully appreciative of his value from the time he surveyed the new Kennedy Cabinet in 1961 and called McNamara "the best of the lot." Whether imposing industrial techniques on the Pentagon (see box, preceding page), helping the President fight an aluminum price rise and settle a railroad labor dispute, or making practical contributions to racial equality in the services, McNamara seldom belied Johnson's description of him as "the finest public servant I have ever seen." On two occasions before...
...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...
...drastic steps recommended by the generals." Arthur Schlesinger Jr. said it was "ominous and scary." Another old New Frontiersman, Economist John Kenneth Galbraith, conjectured that the Administration had yielded to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and "conservatives on the Hill" who wanted a "more compliant man" in the Pentagon...
...conspiracy theory was vigorously espoused by Senators Robert and Edward Kennedy and their aides. McNamara has retained close personal ties with the Kennedys (a fact used to support the argument that McNamara had been canned), and on Monday evening Bobby spent an hour with McNamara at the Pentagon. Next day, as Bobby passed him notes, Ted took the Senate floor to say: "I have heard that it is not a question of his having submitted his resignation." He went on to ask for the facts while Kennedy aides kept feeding misinformation into Washington's ever-ready fantasy factory...
...disposition to rush matters. It was last April 18 that George Woods, the World Bank president, whose term expires Dec. 31, sounded McNamara out about taking over the job. McNamara went to Johnson with the idea, said he was interested but added that he would stay at the Pentagon as long as Johnson wanted him there. "You can have anything you want," Johnson responded...