Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Uncategorized Robert McNamara dies, Fog of War remains
Posted by Curt Holman @Curt_Holman on Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 12:58 AM
Robert Strange McNamara, who found fame and notoreity as President John F. Kennedy's Secretary of Defense and one of the architects of the Vietnam War, died today at the age of 93. In 2003, McNamara was the subject of one of the best documentaries of this decade, The Fog of War, which earned director Errol Morris an Oscar. As the film delves into McNamara's involvement in Vietnam, World War II and Ford Motor Co. safety research, Morris explores some of his documentaries' recurring themes, such as the implications of waging war effectively and whether human life can be quantified. When I reviewed the film, I wrote:
McNamara becomes an intriguing mystery in The Fog of War -- you feel like you'd need a Ouija board to find his moral compass. He seems to have a conscience, but out of pride, loyalty to his presidents and other unknowable reasons, he won't admit that Vietnam left him with blood on his hands. In a phone conversation with Morris, he says that admitting guilt would be a damned-if-he-does, damned-if-he-doesn't situation. McNamara would rather be damned if he doesn't.
Here's the original trailer:
Comments (3)
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This documentary was so wonderful. It's chilling to see him paint such a moral self-image. I recall him saying his favorite classes in college were the ones on ethics ... stuff like Aristotle and whatnot.
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