Unhappiness is best defined as the difference between our talents and our expectations.

Edward de Bono, 1933 –
Robert McNamara biography at QuotationFun

A Short Biography of Robert McNamara

Author Name:

Robert McNamara

Born As:

Robert Strange McNamara

Other Names:

Born:

09 Jun 1916

Died:

06 Jul 2009




author picture 
Eighth Secretary of Defense                          
                          
Mother  Clara Nell Strange McNamara, whose maiden name was given as her son's middle name.
Father Robert James McNamara,
First wife Margaret Craig - 1940-1981 - three children. Margaret McNamara, a former teacher, used her position as a Cabinet spouse to launch a reading program for young children, Reading Is Fundamental, which became the largest literacy program in the country. She died of cancer in 1981.
Second wife Diana Masieri Byfield 2004-2009                          
Eighth Secretary of Defense, serving under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968.

President of the World Bank from 1968 until 1981.                          
During President John F. Kennedy's term, while McNamara was Secretary of Defense, America's troops in Vietnam increased from around 500 to 16,000 advisers, who were not supposed to engage in combat but rather to train the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.

The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara is a 2003 Errol Morris documentary consisting of interviews with Robert McNamara and archival footage. It won the Academy Award for Documentary Feature. 

It is a process of examining the experiences of his long and controversial period as the United States Secretary of Defense, as well as other periods of his personal and public life. In this documentary he referred to the Vietnam war and he said, "None of our allies supported us. Not Japan, not Germany, not Britain or France. If we can't persuade nations with comparable values of the merit of our cause, we'd better reexamine our reasoning."

The eleven lessons explored in the documentary are:

   1. Empathise with your enemy
   2. Rationality will not save us
   3. There's something beyond oneself
   4. Maximise efficiency
   5. Proportionality should be a guideline in war
   6. Get the data
   7. Belief and seeing are both often wrong
   8. Be prepared to reexamine your reasoning
   9. In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil
  10. Never say never
  11. You can't change human nature.