Word: vietnam
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...many of his critics and contemporaries, Robert S. McNamara will forever and singularly be known as the supremely rational and self-confident defense secretary who irreparably plunged the United States into the Vietnam War, even while believing that the conflict was not winnable...
...Peace, died on Monday at age 93 at his home in Washington. He served as defense secretary for Presidents John F. Kennedy '40 and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968, during which half a million American soldiers were sent to war in the jungles of Vietnam and hundreds of thousands of tons of bombs were dropped. While McNamara had said early on that he was "pleased to be identified" with the war, his confidence in the military effort steadily deteriorated, albeit not publicly until near the end of his tenure...
...years tackling global poverty as the World Bank's president, exhibiting his characteristic devotion and confidence but delivering mixed results. He became heavily involved with efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation, and he spoke and traveled widely in his later life denouncing America's role and his own role in Vietnam. He even wrote a memoir indicting American policy in Vietnam and was featured in the acclaimed documentary...
...tragic flaw was that Robert McNamara was someone who was incapable of imagining that he could be wrong. The mistakes in Vietnam were mistakes of arrogance and addiction to power," said Stephen M. Walt, a Kennedy School professor who added that he was "certainly no admirer of [McNamara...
...think he realized deep down that he is going to be remembered in history for his unfortunate contributions to the American role in Vietnam," Kalb said. "[McNamara] could have worked 50 years at the World Bank, and when he died, the lede would still say he was the man who failed in Vietnam...