McNamara in the muddle

Robert S. McNamara, the former secretary of defense under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson whom many saw as the architect of the Vietnam War, died on Monday.

He didn't go through a deathbed repentance for his efforts in Vietnam.

That penance he had done publicly and privately over many years before.

In a video documentary in 1993, McNamara talked about his own failings and the failings of the policy in Vietnam. The disclosure opened old wounds and prompted sarcastic comments from the media, such as the New York Times line, "Stale tears, three decades late."

In later life, McNamara threw his energy and focus into helping Third World countries, and he did a rather remarkable job of getting loans to the needy. But like so many public figures whose lives hinge on one memorable moment, McNamara will forever be associated with Vietnam.

For example, in a comment about the war in Iraq decades later, Sen. Bob Bennett said the Bush administration was fortunate because whatever its failings, there "isn't a McNamara among them."

McNamara's name will be spoken of for good or ill for some time.

After retiring in 1981, he worked toward nuclear disarmament and became something of a "tribal elder" because of his wonkish attention to detail.

His life was filled with ironies. He graduated from Berkeley, which became ground zero for protests against the Vietnam War. And despite being a key figure in the Vietnam fiasco, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.

He was a man with a reputation, to quote one journalist, for being a "human IBM machine," but he could also show a tremendous amount of heart and caring.

Needless to say, Americans — and the world — will be sorting out the man's accomplishments and failures, his good points and bad, for many decades. The man in the rimless glasses and slick hair who once said, "Brains, like hearts, go where they are appreciated," should be fertile ground for young researchers — even at his Berkeley alma mater.