F-111 Bob McNamara...
Posted on 07/06/2009 6:21:18 AM PDT by DFG
Former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara has died.
McNamara, 93, died at home in his sleep Monday morning, his wife Diana told The Associated Press. She said he had been in failing health for some time.
Known as a policymaker with a fixation for statistical analysis, McNamara was president of the Ford Motor Co. when President John F. Kennedy asked him to head the Pentagon in 1961.
McNamara worked for seven years as the defense secretary in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, longer than any other person in that post. He headed the war department during the build-up of forces in Vietnam.
He is considered the architect of the concept of "mutual assured destruction," a key feature of the nuclear arms race during the Cold War.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
The worst Secdef in my lifetime.
If half of what I have seen is true then I dont think he is so thrilled with himself now...
Almost singlehandedly responsible for the disaster of the VietNam war
Doggone shame we can't hold his trial now.
Bad man. Good death.
I liked him. MSM always harps on his mea culpa book and ignores Dean Rusk’s unwavering support of the Vietnam war during his entire lifetime (Rusk being Secretary of State when McNamara was SecDef).
This was already posted but with a different title.
I searched for the exact title on the article but found no matches. It would help if people would not change the title.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2286427/posts
1. Simon Cameron
2. Robert S. McNamara
3. Donald Rumsfeld
Long overdue.
You should read the book “The Reckoning” by David Halberstrom. McNamara may have been President of Ford, but he knew almost nothing about either cars or manufacturing. He held manufacturing people in low regard and resisted investment in factories. At one point, he suggested that factory efficiency could be improved by assembling a car in two halves and then welding them together. Unbelievable, but true. The long decline in US car quality started with him.
NO.
We don’t do that on Free Republic. Ok bud.
When someone dies, we offer thoughts and prayers to their family. Because we have class. and we believe all fall short of the grace of God.
I know that was a very painfull time for the USA. But I am sure Mr McNamara felt the pain, just as Lyndon Johnson did, just as Richard Nixon did. Does anyone doubt that Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon LOVED this country ?. Bob McNamara doesn’t deserve hatred. God rest his soul. He served the United States of America. He was a patriot.
A duplicitous liar who held primary responibility for what happened in Viet Nam. May he RIP, but I doubt he will.
Almost singlehandedly responsible for the disaster of the VietNam war
“Almost singlehandedly responsible for the disaster of the VietNam war”
We have a winner.
You put them both in the SAME SENTENCE???
Nixon yes. But Johnson??? He loved Johnson.
I’ll reserve comment. I hope he makes peace with many U.S. soldiers who went before him.
He was neither the “Best nor the Brightest”.
Well said.
The kind of suggestion that can only from from a Harvard MBA.
He told them there were using too many bullets, remember that one?
The Architect of Defeat in Vietnam.
You are happy he led the defeat of a war you fought in? Bizzare.
some of you sound like DU’er talking about Dick Cheney. Maybe I only see the parallel because I didn’t live through the 60s. And my experiance locking horns with some nutty liberals on campus in Athens. Hate is their trademark. But, it is important we hold ourselves to a higher standard.
No tears here.............
The average IQ of the country just went up a lot.
I wish him no evil, but I don’t give a smelly Obama about his death.
Next up Kissinger. Between these two, thousands of our Military died or were maimed for a cause these two helped negate. Their egos trumped lives!
Barry M. Goldwater once said McNamara was the most dishonest man he ever met. Then he changed his mind and said that person was really Richard M. Nixon .
Yes, but he had Everett McKinley Dirksen helping him pick the targets!
McNamara was responsible for the deaths of 50,000 young Americans and countless Vietnamese, both North and South......
McNamara’s 100,000..
Has to be the WORST idea in the annals of American Military History.
Well at least he won’t be going to the same place that the thousands that he helped send to an early end went to.
If there is justice, him and LBJ are battling ‘fires’ now.
No loss to the country..
Sorry, disagree completely.
Some incompetence and wrongdoing deserves to see the light of day. A man’s death does not exonerate nor, in those extreme situations, should it be reason to in any way excuse or ignore these transgressions.
ping
******************
Johnson? The man was a socialist. I doubt that he loved this country, yes.
Speak for yourself, hand wringer.
Do you think Johnson enjoyed the Viet Nam war ? Again, I didn’t live through the 60s. But as a 23 year old. I could go over to DU and read the same comments about Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, and even Reagan.
we are better than this
McNamara is responsible for too many deaths to be mourned. He came up with one of the worst war strategies in human history, a strategy that managed to be both incapable of winning and incapable of losing and thus turned the war into a meat grinder. He might have been a patriot, but the blood on his hands would make even Lady Macbeth cringe.
F-111 Bob McNamara...
Saddam Hussein loved his country, so did Josef Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao Tse Tung, and Ho Chi Minh, even Adolph Hitler. It didn't make them "feel pain" ... whether saints or monsters, people need to be judged for their actions despite what is BC (Biblical Correct). I am sorry for Robert S. McNamara's family but I don't grieve his death; he was one of the worst SECDEF's in history...second only to Simon Cameron. His and LBJ's decisions to suspend (limited warfare) instead of carrying on the successful "Rolling Thunder" (which Nixon mirrored in "Linebacker II" to force the N.V.A. regime to the peace table) resulted to stymie a winnable war and cost American lives.
Wanna hear something funny? At one time the FAA had a quota hire woman in a very high position who suggested putting odometers on aircraft! True story.
No, I will not say “God rest his soul”. Please, read up on your history. Many of us here lived through or fought in the Vietnam war and do not need a lecture!
General Vo Nguyen Giap in his memoirs
He and his “Whiz Kid” accountants screwed up the auto business back in the 50’s.
I’m not a vet, but I hate him for what he did to the auto industry, etc., and will be in line with the vets to piss on his grave(aka v.vet.urinal).
Perhaps you should just let it go. 23? You have no idea what this guy did nor are you qualified to ‘Correct’ others who do.
Agree.
Good riddance to an arrogant bastard.
That isn't what you asked. You're changing the subject.
Your question was whether or not Johnson loved America. I believe Johnson loved Johnson, first and foremost.
I could go over to DU and read the same comments about Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, and even Reagan.
Yes, you could. But they're wrong.
The important thing isn't whether or not people say bad things about someone, but whether or not those things are true.
we are better than this
Better than what, exactly? Pointing out the truth?
The war was a disaster. History says that.
But my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ went to the cross for a reason. and I hope Robert McNamara accepted that gift and is with him in heaven.
we are talking about a human being.
Good. I spit on his grave.
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