This interesting documentary chronicles the life of Robert McNamara, who served as Secretary of Defense during the Cuban missile crisis and the Vietnam War.
At 85 years old, McNamara comes off as a much younger person because of his energy and sharp observations.
The segment dealing with the Cuban missile crisis is absolutely bone chilling because of how close the world came to nuclear war.
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Also, McNamara tells how he believes the United States would have scaled down and eventually removed its presence in Vietnam had President John F. Kennedy not been assassinated.
He talks about the mistakes that were made during the Vietnam War, including the actions that led to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that brought the United States deeper into the war.
One interesting anecdote is about how a senior Vietnamese official told McNamara that they viewed the United States as just another colonial power trying to rule in the vacuum left by the French in 1954. That official also told McNamara that the idea that North Vietnam was allied with China was absurd because the Vietnamese had been fighting the Chinese for 1,000 years.
“The Fog of War” allows McNamara the time to reminisce about the various stages in his life: he was a colonel in the air force during World War II, a Harvard business school graduate, and president of the Ford Motor Company. The way he was recruited by Kennedy to serve as Secretary of Defense is an intriguing story.
“The Fog of War” is available on DVD.
Murphy can be reached at [email protected]
