https://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2009/07/06/robert-strange-mcnamara-dead-at-93/feed/PJ Media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Our reporters and columnists provide original, in-depth analysis from a variety of perspectives.en-usWed, 10 Jun 2026 05:43:34 -0400<![CDATA[Fox reports that he &#8220;died at home in his sleep Monday morning, his wife Diana &#8230; said he had been in failing health for some time. Known as a policymaker with a fixation for statistical analysis, McNamara was president of the Ford Motor Co. when President John F. Kennedy asked him to head the Pentagon in 1961.&#8221; McNamara&#8217;s name will forever be associated with the charge that he replaced the idea of victory with &#8220;cost effectiveness&#8221; in Vietnam; that he spent lives in the pursuit of some elusive metric. But the blame for that has to go back much further, to Korea when Douglas MacArthur discovered that Washington at least, believed there was indeed a substitute for victory.]]>Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:55:28 -0400<![CDATA[Richard Fernandez]]>https://pjmedia.com/richard-fernandez/2009/07/06/robert-strange-mcnamara-dead-at-93-n188754