Former US Defence Secretary and Architect of Vietnam War Robert McNamara has died at the age of 93.Family members said McNamara, whose father's family left County Clare for California in the late 19th century, died at his home in Northwest Washington. They did not give a cause of death.
McNamara was secretary of defence during the presidencies of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson. In that capacity he directed a U.S. military build-up in Southeast Asia during the critical early years of a Vietnamese conflict that escalated into one of the most divisive and bitter wars in U.S. history.
Following that he served as President of the World Bank from 1968 until 1981. McNamara was responsible for the institution of systems analysis in public policy, which developed into the discipline known today as policy analysis.
BELOW VIDEO: Robert S. McNamara, former Secretary of Defense and former President of the World Bank reminisces with host Harry Kreisler about public service, the War in Vietnam, znc the dangers of the superpower confrontation during the Cold War. Series: Conversations with History [Public Affairs] [Humanities]
