Robert McNamara dies at 93

Robert McNamara, best known as one of the architects of the Vietnam War, died Monday at the age of 93.

Born in San Francisco in 1916, McNamara gained prominence as one of the “whiz kids” who helped revitalize Ford Motor Company in 1946 – the same year he left the

U.S. military and seven years after he graduated from Harvard Business School.

McNamara had a successful career at Ford, and became company president in 1960.

But he is best remembered for his role as U.S. Secretary of Defense. He held the post for seven years, longer than anyone before or since.

Soon after he was appointed by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, McNamara set about modernizing the Pentagon. The following year, he played a key role in the Kennedy administration’s handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

But his focus soon turned to the Vietnam. McNamara believed U.S. forces should be sent the Southeast Asian country to prevent a communist takeover of the entire region.

Kennedy sent some troops there but his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, started a major buildup. At one point, more than 500,000 American troops were in Vietnam.

Trying to implement Johnson’s policies, McNamara encountered fierce resistance at home and abroad.

McNamara criticized the U.S. bombing of North Vietnam in 1967. A year later, Johnson offered him the presidency of the World Bank.

Known for his mental acuity and energy, McNamara broadened the influence of the bank, and led a campaign against poverty. Under his leadership, the bank increased its loan commitments to Third World nations.

After retiring from the bank in 1981, McNamara joined dozens of corporate boards. He was also a member of commission that promoted closer ties between the U.S., Europe and Japan.

Still, he spent the rest of his life trying to explain American involvement in Vietnam. In a 1995 memoir, he admitted his conduct during the war had been “terribly wrong.”

In a 2003 documentary called The Fog of War, McNamara said the war had taught him that it’s important to “know one’s enemy” and even to “empathize with him.”

McNamara married Margaret Craig in 1940. The union produced two daughters, Margaret Elizabeth and Kathleen, and a son, Robert Craig.

While McNamara was in the Pentagon, his wife created a literacy program for poor children. The program, Reading is Fundamental, had served three million children by the time she died in 1981.

Five years ago, McNamara married Italian-born Diana Masieri Byfield.

He died in his sleep.