Robert McNamara, who served as US defence secretary during the Vietnam war and the Cuban Missile Crisis, has died aged 93, BBC online reports Monday.
Mr McNamara, who served under presidents John F Kennedy and Lyndon B Johnson, was also an architect of the US policy of nuclear deterrence. After leaving the Pentagon he became president of the World Bank (April 1968- June 1981) – and ended up being the longest sitting person at the helm of the huge multilateral institution.
As president of the Bank, Mr McNamara devoted great energy into improving life in rural communities in developing countries. He believed it was a more promising path to peace than the build-up of arms and armies.
During his tenure as Bank President he wrote the book “One Hundred Countries, Two Billion People: The Dimensions of Development”, issued in September 1973.
After his retirement from the Bank in 1981, he maintained an exhausting schedule as director or consultant to scores of public and private organizations and was a virtual one-man think tank on nuclear arms issues.
Tilføjelse u-landsnyt: Det var i hans tid som præsident for Verdensbanken, at bankens årsmøde i København i september 1970 udviklede sig til omfattende og blodige protester og demonstrationer, hvis lige hovedstaden ikke havde oplevet siden den tyske besættelse – og heller ikke siden.
He was said to have built a record of achievement and dedication in business, government and public service that few of his generation could match.
He is most closely associated with overseeing the escalation of the US involvement in Vietnam from 1961 to 1968. Mr McNamara became to many anti-war critics the symbol of a failed policy that left more than 58.000 US troops dead.
However, in his 1995 memoirs In Retrospect: The Tragedies and Lessons of Vietnam, Mr McNamara wrote of his regret over his Vietnam role. He described the war as “terribly wrong”.
Mindeord fra Zoellick
(senere tilføjelse)
Statement by World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick on the passing of Mr. Robert McNamara
GENEVA, 7 July, 2009: It was with sadness that I learned yesterday of the passing of Robert McNamara: a pioneer of policy analysis, industrialist, public servant, and former President of the World Bank Group – a figure who left his mark on history.
Robert McNamara shaped the Bank as no one before him. He came to the Bank in 1968, brimming with energy, forceful, active, and pushing to get things done. Mr. McNamara accomplished many things at the Bank – and influenced a generation – over 13 years of service.
One of the most important was his foresight to open relations between the Bank and China at a crucial time in that countrys development – and when there were many critics who disagreed with his decision.
He was a great voice for the poor and his dedication to the Banks mission of overcoming poverty stands as an example to us all today. I also always personally appreciated the support and encouragement he offered me as I became president.
Our thoughts and sympathies are with his family.
For more information about Robert McNamara and his tenure at the Bank, please visit: http://go.worldbank.org/44V9497H50
