In Retrospect by Robert McNamara

In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam by Robert S. McNamara
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As I was born in middle of the Vietnam War I had no firsthand knowledge of the event or Robert McNamara. I did have uncles that served there even one that was severely wounded. Like many in my generation it was a mystery with a controversial outcome that was sometimes just not talked about. In a sense we grew up in the shadows of Watergate and Vietnam War. The recent Ken Burns documentary renewed my interest in this era. I saw this in my local library and thought it would an interesting addition to my reading list on the subject as he was Secretary of Defense during much of conflict he was a central player.

The book is his attempt to explain his side of the story about what happened during his time as Secretary of Defense with two different Presidents. He tries to give insight into the decision making that went on between the two leaders regarding Vietnam and Cold War policy. There seemed a lot of dancing around the subject of sending in troops and the effectiveness of strategic bombing. Even the Gulf of Tonkin incident seems hazy yet it led to congressional approval to widen the war. One question that is debated is to what Kennedy would have done had he not been assassinated. Would he have escalated or eventually stayed out. The picture McNamara paints is that he was doing his best to be loyal to the President and it wasn’t his entire fault. In essence he lays a lot on President Johnson’s feet for the war.

In the end it is a memoir which one has to keep in mind it is just one person’s point of view. Someone writing about themselves will most times try and defend themselves whether purposeful or not. I don’t necessarily hold it against them. It is good book to get an insiders point of view of the Vietnam War at the highest levels of decision making in the White House. McNamara does come off as sincere and intelligent but with a touch of arrogance. The reader would have to be the final judge as to the accuracy of the information.


View all my reviews