Robert McNamara: life of the week

Robert McNamara's tenure as a key White House statesman is one of the most consequential of the 20th century. He served as Secretary of Defense under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, and in the summer of 1965, he was a leading advocate for American escalation in Vietnam, a conflict responsible for millions of casualties. It's this act for which he is most remembered and often reviled.

In this episode of the History Extra podcast, William and Philip Taubman, authors of new biography Magnamara at War, shed light on his motivations and secret battles, revealing a life of intense personal contradictions. They were speaking with Eleanor Evans. In our Life of the Week series, many of the figures we look at have contradictions, but having read your book, Robert McNamara is surely one of the most divisive and divided conflicted figures. Bill, if I can come to you first, for our listeners who have not yet come across McNamara's impact in Korea, can you introduce us to him and where he sits in this story of 20th century US and global history? Well, McNamara was probably the most effective Secretary of Defense the United States has ever had.

But interestingly, while he was so effective, he was also one of the most reviled and hated secretaries of defense that the United States has ever had. And I think the effectiveness and the fact that he was reviled go together. That is to say, he was very good at presiding over a war which many people wished we were not in. He managed to antagonize lots of different people.

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