Robert S. McNamara, the brilliant secretary of defense for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, helped lead America into Vietnam. McNamara believed that the fight against communism in Asia was worth the sacrifice of American lives, and yet he eventually came to believe that the war was, in fact, unwinnable. Outnumbered by those who wanted to continue fighting, he left the Johnson administration and his involvement in Vietnam behind. he refused any public comment on the war, and for almost three decades he has kept that silence--until now.
Drawing on his personal experience and a wealth of documentation - much of it only recently declassified and some presented here for the first time ever - McNamara has crafted the classic insider account of Vietnam policy making. He reveals exactly how we stumbled into the war, and exactly why it quickly became so difficult to pull out. We meet John F. Kennedy, and McNamara discloses what he believes Kennedy would have done in Vietnam had he lived. We get to know Lyndon B. Johnson, and see exactly how the war tore him apart and damaged his entire presidency. We sit in on secret meetings, we read private cables, and we hear the voices and arguments of the men who battled over America's Vietnam policy. McNamara takes us into the Oval Office for late-night discussions with the president, into the halls of the Pentagon as military strategy is argued, and into the chambers of Congress as policy is debated. He also reveals his own inner torment as the war effort becomes increasingly frustrating, and then utterly disastrous. The result is a book that is not only history of the highest order, but a revealing portrait of the trials of leadership.
For almost thirty years the world has waited to hear what Robert S. McNamara had to say about the Vietnam War and his role in it. With this book, that wait is over. In Retrospect stands as the finest dissection ever written of America's stumble into Vietnam, an essential chapter of American history that not only finally provides the answer as to why the "best and the brightest" led us into tragedy, but also reveals what we can learn from their mistakes in order to reply to the post-Cold War world of the twenty-first century.
Editorial Reviews
"Can anyone remember a public official with the courage to confess error and explain where he and his country went wrong? This is what Robert McNamara does in this brave, honest, honorable, and altogether compelling book." —Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
"A fascinating and extraordinarily candid examination of the errors of judgment of the 'best and the brightest' of our civilian and military leaders during the Vietnam War. This book should be read and carried throughout their careers by every current and future military officer for decades to come." —Lt. Gen. Robert E. Pursley (USAF, Ret.)
About the Author
Robert S. McNamara was secretary of defense under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, president of the Ford Motor Company, and president of the World Bank. After leaving the World Bank he was active in economic development efforts across the globe and in the arms control and non-proliferation movements. He died in 2009.
