Philip Taubman and William Taubman: McNamara at War

Nov 3, 2025

Philip Taubman, a senior fellow at Stanford, and William Taubman, a Pulitzer-winning biographer, delve into the life of Robert McNamara, a key player in U.S. military history. They discuss newly uncovered letters from Jacqueline Kennedy that reveal McNamara's personal struggles. Their exploration covers McNamara's evolution from a war advocate to someone questioning the Vietnam War, alongside insights from a private diary. The brothers also reflect on McNamara's duality: his loyalty, ambition, and the haunting guilt from his decisions, painting a portrait of a man deeply at odds with himself.

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ANECDOTE

Private Letters Recast His Image

Diana McNamara and other papers revealed intimate letters from Jacqueline Kennedy, McNamara's mother, and his first wife.
These letters showed a sensitive, empathetic side of McNamara that contrasted with his technocratic image.

INSIGHT

Public Role And Private Torment

McNamara lived a double life: publicly managing war while privately tormented by it.
The title "McNamara at War" captures both his external role and internal struggle.

INSIGHT

Managerial Mindset Shaped Defense Policy

Kennedy recruited McNamara to reform the Pentagon, not to run a war in Vietnam.
McNamara applied management techniques to centralize civilian control and reshape defense budgeting.

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Robert S. McNamara was widely considered to be one of the most brilliant men of his generation. He was an invaluable ally of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson as their secretary of defense, and he had a deeply moving relationship with Jackie Kennedy. But to the country, McNamara was the leading advocate for American escalation in Vietnam. He strongly advised Johnson to deploy hundreds of thousands of American ground troops, just weeks before concluding that the war was unwinnable, and for the next two and a half years McNamara failed to urge Johnson to cut his losses and withdraw.

Join us to hear Philip and William Taubman examine McNamara’s life of intense personal contradictions—from his childhood, his career as a young faculty member at Harvard Business School, and his World War II service, to his leadership of the Ford Motor Company and the World Bank. They had access to materials previously unavailable to McNamara biographers, including Jacqueline Kennedy’s warm letters to McNamara; family correspondence dating back to McNamara’s service in World War II; and a secret diary maintained by McNamara’s top Vietnam policy aide. What emerges is a comprehensive story of the controversial former leader of the Pentagon: riven by melancholy, guilt, zealous loyalty, and a profound inability to admit his flawed thinking about Vietnam before it was too late. The Taubmans relate this story in McNamara at War, presenting a portrait of a man at war with himself―with a grave influence on the history of the United States and the world.

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Philip Taubman photo by and copyright Linda Cicero, Stanford University; William Taubman photo by Michele Stapleton; courtesy the speakers.

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Organizer: George Hammond

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