Robert McNamara was the first president of Ford Motor company who was not from the Ford family, which would have been enough of a crowning achievement for most men - even the ambitious ones. But instead, 5 weeks later, he quit the job and accepted President John F. Kennedy's invitation to become Secretary of Defense. Mr. McNamara had fought in World War II and now was the top man, next to the president, during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the start of the Vietnam War. He stayed on when JFK was assasinated and served as LBJ's Secretary of Defense for some time, before being fired for stark disagreements with Johnson. Relatively new to DVD is the documentary "The Fog of War" which is essentially a 107 minute interview with Mr. McNamara about what he has learned in his life, being at such critical places during some of the darkest moments of our republic.
The film is broken up into about 11 segments based around lessons that Mr. McNamara feels have shaped his life, and his goal in the film is to bring the lessons of hindsight before a new generation, so that they can avoid the mistakes that he made in his own time. And Mr. McNamara is not shy about admitting mistakes. He bravely admits that the data which lead to the Gulf of Tonkin resolution was wrong, and that America never really understood the mind of the North Vietnamese people. He willingly talks about his relationship with JFK which was one of mutual admiration and understanding, where he seems to have felt like a virtual extension of the president. He contrasts it with his relationship with LBJ, where he sums up the entire relationship in two photographs from the time: one where Johnson is slumped down in a chair listening to McNamara with a look on his face of absolute conviction that McNamara is wrong, and another which shows McNamara leaning on his hand in des!
pair at the decisions the new president was making. And perhaps the most self-incriminating and yet fascinating story is one he tells of going back to Vietnam, only a few years ago, and talking with the man who was the lead general of the time about what could have been done. The general indicates that the North Vietnamese were convinced (and the Soviets likewise) that the USA was pursuing a colonial policy for control, while McNamara indicates that the USA was merely keeping the Chinese from invading all of Asia. "The Chinese?" The general responds, "We have been at war with them for 1000 years! We'd sooner die, every last man, than cooperate with them. And we'd die to our last man to keep you from taking control of us as well." The entire conflict, the confusion of decades, is laid bare as a simple misunderstanding.
The documentary is amazing. It is made with a strong sensibility that attempts to bring back the feel of the world in JFK's time when the Domino Theory obsessed everyone in power, as they watched Communism roll across Europe and Asia. Footage from the time is mixed with strong symbolic imagery, and the words of Mr. McNamara to get you back into the minds of top men in that day. There is a definite darkness to the film - it knows its end from the very beginning, and the end is the failure of the USA in the Vietnam War - but it only serves to give the experience a definite flavor. It does not claim to be an impartial observer, and thus lets you relax and listen because you know where it is coming from. I highly recommend this film to all of our readers. It gives an amazing picture of its times, but also brings out much truth about human nature, the American psyche, and the recent history. If you are liberal, you will see President Bush's cabinet in this man. If you are!
a conservative, you will be amazed by the lessons that America has learned. If you are a centrist, you will be hit by the profound truth that history does repeat itself, because human nature never changes.
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