DBWI: Robert McNamara as US Secretary of Defense?

The latest news indicated that former Ford executive and World Bank director Robert McNamara has died. What people often don't realize is that he was one of the candidates for John F. Kennedy's Secretary of Defense. He was not selected and some have speculated that US military procurement might have taken a different route if he had taken the reign.

Now, JFK is rightly remembered as one of the most militarized US Presidents in history, throwing away Eisenhower's wisdom on military procurement issues.

What if McNamara took the Secretary of Defense position? Could we see that instead of 10 000 Minutemen missiles, mass of B-70 bombers etc. USA could win the moon race and save South Vietnam from communism?
 
Well, Mc Namara would have cancelled projects like Skybolt or the Mars Mission in 87.

True, probably the only reason there was a joint US-EC-Japanese mission to Mars was that Soviet Union succeeded in first Moon landing. On the other hand, with cancellation of Skybolt would there have been US-British "Special relationship"? Certainly we would not have seen F-4's onboard British CVA-carriers, for instance.
 
McNamara was controversial at the time, but in retrospect would have been viewed warmly.

We only need to look at the controversy caused by the loss of Vietnam to communism caused, to see that his ideas for intervening in Vietnam would, if they had been followed, been well regarded today.

The Vietnam episode would be universally seen in retrospect as one of greatest successes of American foreign policy (the US would undoubtedly easily have defeated the Viet Cong and the North), that had almost been missed because of the misguided non-interventionism of those with less foresight than McNamara.

Today Vietnam would most likely be a united democratic state - North Vietnam probably would have collapsed in 1989 along with the Eastern European communist states, and then been reabsorbed by the South. If on the other hand a communist North Vietnam did still exist, it would be a hermit state (like North Korea), much less important that the rich and democratic South.

And that would all be thanks to Robert McNamara!
 
True, probably the only reason there was a joint US-EC-Japanese mission to Mars was that Soviet Union succeeded in first Moon landing. On the other hand, with cancellation of Skybolt would there have been US-British "Special relationship"? Certainly we would not have seen F-4's onboard British CVA-carriers, for instance.

Probably the Brits would also have discontinued Production and use of the Avro Vulcan and bought SSBNs instead.
 
Probably the Brits would also have discontinued Production and use of the Avro Vulcan and bought SSBNs instead.

Hard to see this happening as British Blue Streak had already been cancelled and it was liquid-propelled anyway. Perhaps joint Franco-British SLBM missile program for SSBN? Definitely very risky and very long route. SSBN purchase would practically also mean no hope for CVA-01 program, so I really doubt any British Cabinet would make that decision.
 
Dunno. Wilson campained for exactly that. Thank god he lost.

OCC: *hops into DeLorean* Mr. Mc Namara is about to recieve his last visitor.
 
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