(disambiguation).
Robert Strange McNamara (/ˈmæknəmærə/; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American business executive and the eighth United States Secretary of Defense, serving from 1961 to 1968 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He remains the longest serving Secretary of Defense, having remained in office over seven years. He played a major role in promoting the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War.[3] McNamara was responsible for the institution of systems analysis in public policy, which developed into the discipline known today as policy analysis.[4]
organization, and management control systems. Because of their youth, combined with asking many questions, Ford employees initially and disparagingly referred to them as the “Quiz Kids”. The Quiz Kids rebranded themselves as the “Whiz Kids”.
Starting as manager of planning and financial analysis, McNamara advanced rapidly through a series of top-level management positions. McNamara had Ford adopt computers to construct models to find the most efficient, rational means of production, which led to much rationalization.[14] McNamara’s style of “scientific management” with his use of computer spreadsheets featuring graphs showing trends in the auto industry were regarded as extremely innovative in the 1950s and were much copied by other executives in the following decades.[14] In his 1995 memoirs, McNamara wrote: “I had spent fifteen years as a manager [at Ford] identifying problems and forcing organizations—often against their will—to think deeply and realistically about alternative courses of action and their consequences”.[14] He was a force behind the Ford Falcon sedan, introduced in the fall of 1959—a small, simple and inexpensive-to-produce counter to the large, expensive vehicles prominent in the late 1950s. McNamara placed a high emphasis on safety: the Lifeguard options package introduced the seat belt (a novelty at the time) and a dished steering wheel, which helped to prevent the driver from being impaled on the steering column during a collision.[15]
After the Lincoln line’s very large 1958, 1959, and 1960 models proved unpopular, McNamara pushed for smaller versions, such as the 1961 Lincoln Continental.
On November 9, 1960, McNamara became the first president of Ford Motor Company from outside the Ford family since John S. Gray in 1906.[16]
Secretary of Defense
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President John F. Kennedy and McNamara, 1962
After his election in 1960, President-elect John F. Kennedy first offered the post of Secretary of Defense to Robert A. Lovett, who had already served in that position in the Truman administration; Lovett declined but recommended McNamara. Kennedy had read about McNamara and his career in a Time magazine article on December 2, 1960, and interviewed him on December 8, with his brother and right-hand man Robert F. Kennedy also being present.[17] McNamara told Kennedy that he didn’t know anything about government, to which Kennedy replied: “We can learn our jobs together. I don’t know how to be president either”.[17] McNamara had read Kennedy’s ghostwritten book Profiles in Courage and asked him if he had really written it himself, with Kennedy insisting that he did.[17] McNamara’s confidence and self-assurance impressed Kennedy.[18] Kennedy offered McNamara the chance to be either Secretary of Defense or Secretary of the Treasury; McNamara came back a week later, accepting the post of Secretary of Defense on the condition of having the right of final approval in all appointments to the Department of Defense, with Kennedy replying: “It’s a deal”.[17] McNamara’s salary as the CEO of Ford ran to some $3 million dollars per year while by contrast the position of the Defense Secretary paid only $25,000 per year.[19] Given the financial sacrifices, McNamara was able to insist to Kennedy that he have the right to appoint his officials and run the Pentagon his own way.[20]
According to Special Counsel Ted Sorensen, Kennedy regarded McNamara as the “star of his team, calling upon him for advice on a wide range of issues beyond national security, including business and economic matters.”[21][page needed] McNamara became one of the few members of the Kennedy Administration to work and socialize with Kennedy, and he became close to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, eventually serving as a pallbearer at the younger Kennedy’s funeral in 1968.[22][page needed]
It is probable McNamara was studying the needs of factories producing German fighter craft and other elements such as tanks and interrupting their capabilities learned a lot about manufacturing dependencies. This made him a candidate become an efficiency expert at Ford motor company. Along with Joseph Kennedy senior the Peace corps and the CIA and East West center
Dynastic Successions Book 