The Living and the Dead: Robert McNamara and Five Lives of a Lost War
Robert McNamara's career was a straight shot to the top, starting with a brilliant academic career and a stint as a statistical control officer during World War II. His next success was realized at Ford Motors, where he rocketed to the position of president. Finally, the ideal model of the "humane technocrat" was tapped as Kennedy's Secretary of Defense. Then came the Vietnam War, for which McNamara is still remembered by many as a soulless bureaucrat who measured the war in strictly numerical terms and--even worse--pursued U.S. involvement long after he knew it was wrong. InThe Living and the Dead,Washington Postwriter Paul Hendrickson searches for McNamara's soul amidst five wrenching portraits of those whose lives were destroyed by the presence of the United States in Vietnam.--This text refers to theAudio Cassetteedition.