Der US-Verteidigungsminister der Jahre 1961 bis 1968 schildert, wie und warum es zu dem schrittweisen Engagement seines Landes in Indochina kam ..
Robert McNamara Bücher
9. Juni 1916 – 6. Juli 2009
Robert Strange McNamara war ein amerikanischer Wirtschaftsmanager und der achte Verteidigungsminister, der eine bedeutende Rolle bei der Eskalation der US-Beteiligung am Vietnamkrieg spielte. Vor seinem öffentlichen Dienst gehörte er zu den "Whiz Kids", die nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg beim Wiederaufbau der Ford Motor Company halfen und kurzzeitig deren Präsident waren. McNamara war für die Einführung der Systemanalyse in die öffentliche Politik verantwortlich, die sich zum heutigen Fachgebiet der Politikgestaltung entwickelte. Er ist mit über sieben Jahren Amtszeit der am längsten amtierende Verteidigungsminister.
Robert S. McNamara, 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 has kept his silence - until the nineties. Drawing on his personal experience and a wealth of documentation - much of it only declassified decades later, and some presented here for the first time ever - McNamara has crafted an 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. 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 also revealing portrait of the trials of leadership.--adapted from publisher description
Explores the thaw in U.S.-Soviet relations and America's post-Cold War future.
