Robert McNamara as Secretary of Defense

Robert McNamara served as the eighth United States secretary of defense from 1961 to 1968 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson at the height of the Cold War. He remains the longest-serving secretary of defense, having remained in office over seven years. He played a major role in promoting the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. McNamara was responsible for the institution of systems analysis in public policy, which developed into the discipline known today as policy analysis.

Many of his views on the military, including negative views, were formed during his U.S. Army Air Force service in World War II under General Curtis LeMay.